Broken Wings
by Kaeera
Summary: Everybody thought that Daisuke was carefree, not? Everybody believed that he was happy...but what, when the truth is different and he has to deal with a trauma he is not ready to deal with? Epilogue
1. It should be raining

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon, and I am making no money with this. It's only for fun...however, I **do** own the plot and the poem, so don't steal it.  
**Warning:** This story contains a serious topic, namely Child Abuse. If you can't hande that, go away.

**Notes:** It was a saturday evening when I started to write this. I was inspired by a song in the radio and a poem I had written before - I involved this poem("Broken Wings") in the story, so please don't steal the italic lines...they are all mine. It's a sad story; hopefully you've read the warning.Terrible things are happening day by day, and sometimes I just feel totally helpless...like the two main characters in this piece. No, I won't tell you who it is, you will find out when you read it. Thanks again to Settiai who was so nice and beta-read the story. And please keep always in your mind that I'm German; stupid grammatical mistakes may appear here and there, although I try my best to avoid them. _~Kaeera_

* * *

**Broken Wings **

_by Kaeera_

**It should be raining....**

Nobody noticed the boy. People were walking by, enjoying the sunlight and laughing. The day was warm, no clouds covering the sky. It was a beautiful day.  
The boy sat in the grass of the park and watched the people around him. He was the only one who didn't look happy.

'It should be raining:', he thought. 'In books it's always raining when the main character is sad.'  
A wry grin crossed his face. 'Guess I'm no main character, then...'

But the grin faded, and his face changed back to normal again. Although you couldn't call this expression normal; it was far too depressed for his usual behaviour. 

'Why's the world that happy?', he wondered and stared at all the people. 'How can they be that happy when such terrible things are happening...'  
'Hell, how could I have been happy before? I lived my life without noticing this...'  
He felt guilty. Incredible guilty...

He brushed his brown hair out of his face and sighed.   
The sun is shining...but everything seems to be grey. I hear the birds. Hear them singing. But I can't enjoy the song.

Guilt...that was what he felt. He had been responsible. He should have noticed something...but nobody did. Nobody! How...how could they've overseen this? How? Didn't they care enough? Didn't they look? Didn't they pay attention?  
In an all-too-familiar gestured he touched his head, wanting to take his precious goggles - but they weren't there. He had given them away long ago. 

Suddenly someone sat down beside him. Taichi perked up, but could only recognize a shadowy figure against the sun. "Leave me alone, Yamato.", he said quietly, staring back at the blue sky. It seemed so wrong...when he looked at it, he had to think of the beach, summer, ice-cream...laughter, happiness! It wasn't right! It should be raining!  
"No way.", his blonde friend answered.

"Please.", Taichi's voice sounded tired and distant.

"No. You're far too upset. And you're blaming yourself, like always. I won't let you do that."

"Practising for your career as psychologist, huh?"

"Of course.", Yamato grinned a little, then came back to serious. "Come on, Taichi. Talk with me."

"No."

"Do I have to beg you?"

"That would certainly be a wonderful experience, but it wouldn't help you much."

"You're stubborn."  
"Yep."

"You know...", Yamato sighed, "Usually it is always me who won't talk. And you threaten me to beat me until I've told you everything. I don't want to do the same thing."

"Then go away."

"Never. What I wanted to say is: It helps, Taichi. Talk with me about it, and I will listen. You need to talk. I know what's bothering you, and it has no use when you keep it bottled inside."  
Taichi closed his eyes in frustration. "Can't you just go away?", he groaned.

"Nope. I'm stubborn, too."

"I know.", he glared at his friend. "Then I will leave.", the brown-haired boy stood up and walked away. Footsteps told him that his friend was following him. "Yamato...", he growled.

"I won't leave you alone until you've talked with me.", the blonde stated determined.  
Taichi threw his hands up in the air. "I just want to be ALONE! Is this too much for you or don't you understand the meaning of the world alone???", he shouted, but Yamato stayed calm.

"Of course I know it. And I remember the numerous times I told YOU to leave me alone...and you never did it. And you know what? In the end I was glad you didn't. So don't shout at me; it won't help you.", he crossed his arms and glared at his friend.

Taichi sighed and looked down on the ground. For several minutes both of them were silent. Then the bearer of the crest of courage let himself fall down into the grass. "You know...", he whispered, "The weather shouldn't be that nice. It should be raining."  
Yamato sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "But it can't rain forever.", he said softly. 

"I know.", Taichi answered. "It's just...well...it's so mean! All these people, they are so lucky, so happy! Like I used to be until I....knew about this...ya-know-what..."

"I understand, Taichi, I understand.", Yamato voice sounded depressed, "You yourself feel so down, and you think that everybody should feel the same way. But that's not how life works. There are happy and unhappy people out there. And we can't make happy people unhappy just because we are...they have their right to be like that. They have their right to enjoy their life."

"Yamato?"

"What?"

"Why didn't we notice it?", Taichi asked and stared at his hands. "Why didn't we see it?"

Yamato shook his head. "I don't know. I really don't know. I'm always searching in my memory, but I never find any scenes in which I suspected something like...that. Never. I thought that he had a beautiful life. Sometimes I even was jealous of him!"

"But...how could he hide something like this? I mean, Matt, we are his friends, we should have noticed at least _something_!!! It was my fault that it came so far! I should have paid attention, it's my responsibility as a friend..."  
"Stop it, Taichi!", the blonde barked and took his friends by the shoulders. "Never talk like that! It isn't your fault. YOU didn't do this to him, this were different people. Maybe we are guilty because we didn't notice it...but then we all together are guilty, every one of us! He's a good actor. He tricked every one of us...So don't blame yourself, Taichi. Don't do that. You couldn't have prevented it. My god, you are my best friend! It's a privilege to have you as a friend! No. It wasn't your fault."

_Spirit has left_

_Leaving soulless Eyes_

_Closing the windows to the soul_

_Mind destroyed _

_Just faded images of a better life_

_Lost_

  
"A good actor?", Taichi cried. "I'm a good friend? So why did he never tell us? Why did he keep it? You are supposed to trust your friends! But he didn't trust us enough to tell his...secret. He didn't believe that we would help him!"

"I don't think that's why he didn't tell us about it.", Yamato pointed out.

"Why then?"

"I think he was scared.", the blonde boy started to explain. "He was scared that somebody might find out and...I've read reports about similar cases, Taichi. Cases which lasted years. The victims were so frightened that a picture was enough and they would flip out - of fear. I think he has never learnt how to trust. It isn't easy."

"But you trust your friends, don't you?"

"Actually...", Yamato smiled, "I had to learn how to trust myself. Before I went to the digital world with you guys, I didn't trust anyone. I thought that they would just go away, like my mother did with TK. I believed that I had a better - an easier - life when I stayed alone. Ya know, the cool guy. Never shows emotions, never attaches to people. Easy life.", his eyes became distant for a moment.

"But everything changed when I met Gabumon. And you. Although we were fighting all the time, I trusted you enough to let TK stay with you. For the first time in my life. It was a hard task, but I managed it...because I had friends."

He stopped, searching for the right words. "Maybe he would have told us. Maybe, after some time, he would have started to trust us enough so that he told - at least - one of his friends about this."

"But now it's too late.", Taichi stated sadly.

"Yes. I know."

_Shattered Dreams_

_Once full of fantasy, of life_

_Now dead and black_

_Pieces lying on the ground_

_Sharp_

_Lost hope_

  
"Have you visited him?", Taichi wanted to know.

"Not yet. TK did, and he told me about his current...state. I must admit, I'm a little bit afraid of seeing him like that."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"You visited him?"

"Yes.", Taichi opened his eyes and stared right at Yamato. "And it was the most horrible experience in my whole life."  
Yamato waited silently until Taichi had pulled himself together and was ready to continue. 

"I hate hospitals.", he told Matt. "They are so...depressing. Especially the children section. I mean, it's colorful and there are toys everywhere...so meant to look jolly and encouraging...but there is this smell of death in the air, the smell of sickness...it's really depressing."

Taichi smiled nervously. "But that was nothing against the view I had in this room. I was only allowed for five minutes, together with Kari. And...I don't know...somehow I expected that nothing had changed. That he would smile at me, saying something stupid. That his eyes would sparkle like they always do."

He hesitated again, finding it more and more difficult to tell what he had seen. "But...but his eyes didn't sparkle. He didn't even look at us, Yamato. He was curled up in his bed, in a corner of his bed, and he looked so frightened and fragile...I couldn't believe it! I thought that we had entered the wrong room...I couldn't be! But he had the same brown spiky hair...and on a table in the corner were lying some goggles, MY goggles..."

"I walked nearer, Kari beside me. There was a nurse in the room which told us that we shouldn't touch him, because he was afraid of physical contact. We could talk to him, but only softly."  
"What did you say?", Yamato wanted to know.  
Taichi's eyes darkened at the memory, and he shuddered when he recalled the scene in the hospital room....

***FLASHBACK***

"Don't shout, don't touch him.", the nurse ordered. Both Kamiya's nodded and glanced at their friend.

"Davis?", Taichi asked softly, waiting for a response. 

"Daisuke?", Hikari tried, but she didn't get an answer. "We came to visit you....", she continued and stared help-seeking at her brother. "She's right, buddy.", Taichi said, trying to sound cheerful. "Ya know, we were missing you out there..."  
Still not a response.

"Davis, please say something.", Kari begged, but the girl knew already that it had no use. After all, the doctors had told them all about the 'illness' their friend was suffering from. She walked a few steps closer to the bed. What then happened startled everybody.  
Daisuke jumped out of the bed and raced as far away from Hikari as possible, pressing himself in the opposite corner of the room, legs trembling and his eyes...wide of fear.

Taichi felt the sudden urge to break someone's neck at the view of the boy. My god, how could anyone look so...scared?

And...he didn't really see them! He was staring through them, unaware of his surroundings. 

"Davis...", Taichi whispered, desperately wanting to hug his friends and painfully knowing that it would only cause more fear.

The smaller boy had now curled up in the corner and was hugging his knees. "Can't we help him?", Tai had croaked out, but the nurse had only shook her head. "He won't recognize you. Right now he's living in his own world, totally unaware of his surroundings. It's better you leave now...your five minutes are over."

***END FLASHBACK***

  
_Eyes staring into the space_

_Not seeing their surroundings_

_Unable to shine with laughter_

_Unable to glint with mischief_

_Lost_

_Forever?_

  
"My god...", Yamato whispered shocked. "I didn't know that it was that bad. I mean, I somehow believed that everybody was exaggerating and...", he realized that he was starting to babble.

"Why did they do this?", Taichi asked. "Why can anyone do this? To a child...he's twelve! He still has his whole life...but this will affect him forever! How can anybody be so cruel?"

Both boys stayed silent. A soft wind was breezing, and in the near a blackbird started to sing its beautiful melody. Yamato laid back on the grass and stared into the blue sky, like Taichi did.

"I think I agree with you.", he said suddenly. "It should be raining."

"Yeah.", made Taichi. "A rainstorm. Cold, icy cold and so wet that you can swim in the air. Really   
BAD weather. It would definitely fit to my mood."

"But it wouldn't help anybody."

"Maybe. It's just not right that the weather is so beautiful while our friend suffers through this."

"Certainly."

They were silent again, shocked by the recent events and not understanding the cruelty of the world.  
Suddenly Taichi laughed; a short, bitter laugh. "Matt...isn't it funny? We've fought against so many evil digimon...and we have always won. But against this evil, this evil who lived under us, who wasn't a digimon, but a human-being, against this we couldn't win. No. We didn't even notice it." 

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah. Whatever. I still feel guilty."

"So do I."

"Then why are you lecturing me?"

"Because otherwise you would only blame yourself and sink into depression."

"You talk of depression!"

"Well, I've the experience."

"Proud of it, huh?"

"Oh yeah, of course. Go, dream in your sleep."

"I wanted to go, but you didn't leave me."

"Oho, coming back to this, ne?"

"I wanted to be alone."

* * *

"Taichi...", Matt asked. "What do you think; will he ever recover?"

"I...I really have no idea. If I hadn't seen him, I would say yes. Immediately. Because Daisuke was always strong. Kinda like me, ya know. I would have said that he would need his time, but that he would recover with the help of his friends..."

"And now, when you have seen him?"

"I'm not sure anymore.", Taichi covered his face with his hands. "I feel bad for it, but I can't believe that he will ever recover! Matt, I've seen him! There was nothing left of the Davis we know! Nothing! He was like a totally different person!"

_Wings are Broken_

_Were meant to fly_

_Remaining on the ground_

_Forever_

  
"Maybe, but we can't give up hope!", Yamato pointed out.

"I know...I didn't say that I stop hoping. It's just that my heart can't believe it...can this be undone? Can you heal his heart when it has been hurt like this?"

"No.", the blonde whispered. "Only he himself can."

"Exactly. And when there's nothing left of Daisuke Motomiya...then who else?"

"....."

"That's what I meant."

The blackbird had stopped singing. Taichi closed his eyes and could feel the sun on his face. Warm. Friendly. Nice. He balled his fists. "Sometimes I wish that I could kill them for what they've done. really, if I would meet them...I know that I would regret it, but I wouldn't be able to restrain my temper."

"I think I would feel the same way."  
The friends chuckled slightly. "By the way...", Yamato continued their conversation, "What's with Jun? Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, I met her at the hospital.", Taichi told him. "She wasn't as bad as Davis...they treated her better."

"He didn't hit her?", Yamato asked unbelievingly. 

"He did. But not as often and not as hard as he hit Daisuke."

"Why didn't _she_ tell?"

"Because her father threatened that he would kill her brother AND beat her until she couldn't move when she would say one word about the whole affair. And to make sure, he would let watch her every time he hurt Daisuke."

"That's....incredible.", Yamato was speechless. "What a bastard!"

"His mother wasn't any better."

"But she didn't hit him, did she?"

"No. But she watched and never did anything to prevent it. Sometimes she told him mean things   
about being a failure and so on....mental torture."

"Poor Daisuke...."

"Yeah...I still can't understand why nobody did notice. Did no neighbour hear the screams? Did no friend, teacher, relative, whatever see the bruises?"

"They probably only hit him on places he could cover with clothes."

"Figures."

  
_Shadow darkening the sun_

_Fear_

_One Shadow_

_Destroyed every hope_

_Every laughter, smile, cry, spirit, dream, memory_

_Love_

"I thought it would be a fluke when I got the call...", Yamato said.

"Me, too. At first I laughed. I didn't realize that it was serious."

"That he would be in the hospital..."

"That he had been abused by his parents...I even told the speaker that that was a VERY bad joke, because I knew the Motomiya's and they were a little bit crazy, but not THAT crazy..."

"Guess you've been wrong."

"If I just had been right for this one time..."

"Who found it out, by the way?"

"Ken."

"What? Really?", Yamato sat up and looked at Taichi. "How?"

"He called Davis, and when nobody answered, he came over to his apartment. The door was open, and so he entered. The living room must have been a mess. And in the middle there was Daisuke, lying in a pool of his own blood, unconscious. Obviously his father had been very furious, because he had not only beaten the boy, but stabbed him with a knife, too. Then he left the flat and drove away in his car, the blood stained knife on the seat. The police found him in the city two hours later..."

"And in the hospital they discovered that Daisuke had been abused over a longer time..."

"Exactly. They told the police, and the brought Mr.Motomiya into the prison. Hope he stays there until   
he rots!!"

"And Mrs. Motomiya?"

"Was shopping."

"WHAT? While her son was stabbed to death?"

"Obviously."

Yamato shook his head. "I always thought that I had a lousy father, but now I have to realize that he's one of the best parents of the world...I mean, he actually cares about me, although he's barely at home and can't cook."

"I feel sorry for Jun.", Taichi stated, ignoring Yamato's little rant. "Having to watch how your brother is beaten up....if I imagine that with Kari...", he shuddered.

"Yeah...the same with TK. Poor girl must feel terrible."

"And they worst is that she doesn't have a place to go."

"Huh? Why that?"

"Duh, because her parents are in prison."

"Oh. I forgot about that."

"Well, she certainly won't forget it."

Then they fell silent again. They just laid there, side by side and stared into the sky, each of them lost in their own, gloomy thoughts. Time passed and they didn't notice. The sun disappeared behind a cloud and the soft breeze became cooler.

"Didn't his father say a reason _why_ he did this?", Yamato wanted to know.

"He did. but these reasons are the...worst crap I've ever heard!", Taichi's voice sounded angry, "He told the police that his son was a failure and that he had only tried to change him...because he wanted that he wouldn't suffer in his later life."

"That's ridiculous."

"Of course. But he did believe it - and still does."

"Why did he take the knife?"

"From what I've heard Daisuke has started to fight back over the last months; and this time he must have told his father some really bad things; that he wouldn't endure this or something like that. Nobody really knows, because his father won't tell it and the neighbours have only heard pieces of the conversation. But Davis made his father so angry that the man took the knife to 'silence' his son..."

"I don't know what to say..."

"Yeah..."

"What will happen with the Motomiya siblings? They don't have a home, don't have money..." 

"Who will pay the hospital bill?"

"Exactly. And the psychologist Daisuke will need..."

"Maybe you can start to practice on him...", Taichi joked in an effort to lighten the mood.

"You would prefer that, huh?", Yamato grinned, "No way."

"Perhaps their parents have to pay for them. After all, they caused all this. It would only be fair."

"Do they have any relatives where they can stay?"

"I have no idea...Davis never talked much about his Family."

"Well, now you know the reason."

"He could stay with us, ya know.", Taichi suggested. His friend looked at him. "Tai, be realistic. Your flat is too small, and what would your parents say about two extra children? Especially when one of the kids is apathetic..."

"I don't like this word.", Taichi muffled. "Apathetic. It sounds so...wrong. I never expected to use this word in the same sentence with 'Daisuke'!"

Some birds were flying away, over the two boys. The park had emptied, and the were the only human-beings on the wide grass area. Grey clouds were moving about the sky.

"Hey, looks at if it would rain soon!", Tai said hopefully. 

"Maybe we should head home." , Yamato suggested, glancing worriedly at the sky.

"No. If it rains, I want to be in the middle of it."

"Want to suffer, huh?"

"Exactly.", Taichi smiled a little, "Ya know, it sounds stupid, but I feel that I have to suffer with him...even if that means to stay outside in the cold rain. It would make me feel better if I would be miserable, too...sheez, that's really stupid."

"It is. But I can understand you.", Yamato grinned. "Ya know what? I will stay with you. Let us suffer together."

"We are stupid, aren't we?"

"Yes."

Drops started to fall, one meeting Taichi's nose with a soft 'splash'. He closed his eyes and stretched his arms. "Finally the right weather!", he said satisfied.  
Soon more raindrops met their body, and the wind became colder. Yamato shivered. "We could get ill, ya know."

"I don't feel like being responsible."

"You are _never_ responsible.", came the sarcastic reply.

The brunette chuckled. "Like you. Hey, I hope my parents won't be worried."

"Why that?"

"I told them that I would only go for a short walk....Kari wanted to go with me, but I refused, telling that I wanted to be alone.", he looked on his watch. "Hmm, must have been a very long walk...I'm in this park for over three hours now."

Now the rain became stronger, drenching their clothes and soaking their hair. Thunderbolts could be heard. But the two friends smiled.

"My father doesn't even know that I'm not at home.", Yamato admitted sheepishly.

"Hey, he will be worried."

"It's a luck."

"What? That he worries?"

"Yeah. I mean, Daisuke's parents surely never worried about him when he stayed out for too long. Must be terrible. Coming home and sensing that nobody has missed you..."

"I think when I come home I will hug my mom."

"Really?"

"Yep. I haven't done that for years, but now I realize that she really earns a hug...although she's a lousy cook.", Taichi snickered.

"Hey, it's a good idea.", Yamato admitted. "Maybe I'll do that, too. Man. Dad would think that I went mad..."

"Let them think what they want."

Yamato glanced at his friend. "Well, with you it's different. Your mother surely knows that you are a weirdo, but my dad thinks that I am a honourable young man with an attitude..."

"Your dad thinks that you are a untidy teen with a love for rock music.", came the sarcastic response.

"Whatever."

"Yeah. Whatever."

* * *

It surely was funny to watch them both. Digidestined of Courage and Friendship lying on wet grass, while it was raining like mad. Everybody tries to leave the rain as soon as possible, only these two young men seemed to enjoy it - although they were shivering of the cold.

Taichi closed his eyes, feeling the heavy teardrops slashing against his eyelids. His fingers felt numb and cold. But somehow he felt better than before. Matt had been right, it really helped to talk. He still couldn't understand why this had happened...and he still felt guilty. He knew that this guilt wouldn't go away that easily - but yet his heart felt relieved. The vision of the small fragile boy appeared again and again in his head, and suddenly he decided determined that he would do everything to help his friend. No.

They would do everything to help their friend. They all together. Old and new digidestined, and probably Jun, too. They couldn't let their friend down.   
And maybe, maybe...he would manage it to smile again. Just a small smile, a curl of the lips...but his eyes would shine of laughter. Sparkle.

He brown-haired boy smiled and sat up. "Yamato...", his voice trailed off, nearly inaudible in the rain. "Thanks."

His friend grinned and brushed the wet hair out of his face. "You're welcome." Then he sneezed. "Uh-oh. Guess I've caught a cold."

Taichi rubbed his hands together. "Yeah. Me too. I think we should head home now."  
They both stood up and laughed when they realized how wet they were...as if they had jumped into the river. "My mother will be angry...", Taichi said gloomily, looking down at his soaked and dirty clothes.

"No.", Yamato answered softly. "I think she will understand."

"Hm. Think you are right. You never know with this woman."

"Well, then...we'll see each other tomorrow."

"Yes. Tomorrow.", Taichi looked down on his hands. 

"Taichi?"

"What?"

"The next time when...when you visit him....can I come with you?", Matt hesitated, "Because...I just owe him this. I mean, we were never that close, but still....I couldn't stand it to go there alone."

"I know. Of course I'll come with you."

"Thanks. See ya tomorrow. Bye!"

"Bye!"

The waved at each other and left the park, each boy following his own direction and his own trail of thoughts. The water kept falling down the sky, and it was so dark that you nearly needed a lamp to recognize anything. On a day like this, it should be raining. It should rain forever, matching to the grief in the hearts of the people.  
But the world keeps moving, whatever we do.

Birds singing in the trees

Sun shining

Warming the white covers

And sometimes

The hint of a smile

Small

Frightened

But there

Hope begins to grow

Broken Wings  


You can't repair them  


Never 

_But you can learn to live with them___

* * *

It depends on you now. I actually planned this to be an one-shot. But my friend Settiai said that it was worth continuing...What do you think? Maybe I will continue when enough people say that they want me to...Child Abuse is a very serious topic and I don't know if I'm good enough to write about it. Please tell me your honest opinion; I would like to improve. Comments like 'Gaaaah! Cool' are nice, but usually they don't help much...they just bust my ego(although I can need that from time to time^^).

And feel always free to mail me with comments, criticism or whatever: **kaeera@yahoo.de**


	2. Living Hell

**Notes**: I finally decided to continue this. I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but I am traying to keep things as authentic as possible, and went to the library in order to get some books(unfortunately they don't have that many). I just hope that my writing is good enough to deal with this topic...This is the link of a site I looked through: **http://www.americanhumane.org/** There were some others, but I forgot to write down the addresses. 

Another thing: I will travel to Italy this weekend, so don't expect any updates during the next 2-3 weeks. I will be at the beach and enjoy the sun :P ~Kaeera 

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera _

**Living Hell**

  


**-Past-**

"See ya tomorrow, Davis!", a boy shouted, grinning. "And don't forget your math homework again!"

"Uhm, yeah...", Daisuke laughed and put a hand behind his head. "I try to do that...bye, TK!", he waved back and quickly walked away from the school building. But as soon as his blonde friend was out of sight, he slowed down. It was a strange wish for a boy of his age, but Daisuke Motomiya would have given everything, just that he could have stayed at school instead of returning home. However, there was no chance....so he tried to lengthen the way home by walking extremely slow.

But unfortunately he didn't live very far away from school, and so he had reached the apartment complex sooner than he thought - or wished. The boy decided to take the staircase instead of the elevator, but even this couldn't hold him up for longer.  
Finally he stood in front of the door to his apartment. Daisuke's shoulders were hunched, and for a moment he felt the sudden urge to run away - he _knew_ what would await him inside.

Fear is an immense power. It can control your mind. And your soul. And although the rational part of his brain told him to run away, his legs didn't mind. He was just too scared. He couldn't do it.

Daisuke opened the door and stepped inside. "I'm home.", he said and wanted to go to his room. Maybe he would be safe there....  


"Wait, young man.", a harsh voice rumpled, and Daisuke flinched, hand outstretched to the doorknob. Trembling he turned around. "Y-Yes, Dad?"  


"Where have you been?", the man demanded, and Davis gulped. He sounded....angry. Angry was not good...no, it definitely wasn't.  


"Uhm, we've had a school project...", he stuttered nervously, "I had to work on it with Takeru, Biology, and we did a lot of research..."  


"So, why didn't you tell this earlier?", his father tapped on the ground. "You have your orders, my boy. One of them is being at home at 4.30 o'clock, not later! You disobeyed me!!"

Daisuke stepped back. "I didn't do it on purpose...the teacher told us this morning, and if I worked on this, I would have gotten a better biology result...I can improve a lot with it."  


"Stop it.", his father growled. "There are orders. My god, why is my son such a failure??", he threw his hands up in the air and narrowed his eyes. "Do you need a lesson - again?"

The boy looked on the ground, trying to hide his trembling lips. "No...", he whispered, closing his eyes. "Father...I managed it to hold my average in maths, and I was second best in geography...I'm no failure...."  
"Oh yes, you are.", he snorted. "You and all the stupid friends of yours, you aren't worth the food you're eating! I don't know why I am trying to raise, why I am spending money on you and your sister...well, at least Jun has a little bit more in her brain than you!"

Daisuke felt tears well up in his eyes and couldn't prevent them from falling down. His father saw this and immediately yelled. "And what's that? Crying like a baby? Act like a man, Daisuke! Tears are for weaklings. You don't want to be a weakling, do you?"

He grabbed his son by the collar. "It's time for another lesson!", he sighed. "It's just for your best, my son. You need to be strong. I don't want a failure as a child! And you have to learn to obey my orders!"

Daisuke shook his head, eyes widening with fear. He knew what was coming, and he didn't like it. More tears were rolling down his cheeks. _I'm just glad that the others can't see me right now_, he thought gloomily, _They would surely go away if they saw me crying like a baby....so weak..._

  


_Humiliating..._

_Do I earn it? Is it my fault?_

_Weak, weak, weak_

_loser..._

  


The first blow hit him right into the nose. Blood dropped down his cheek, but he knew better than wiping it away. The best was to hold still and to wait until this torture was over.  


"Men don't cry!", his father hollered and slapped him in the face. Daisuke fell to the ground, clutching his cheek.  


"Especially not MY son!", Mr.Motomiya continued and kicked the boy into the rips. Daisuke yelped and tried to roll away. Looking up at his father, he saw the evil glint in his eyes and shivered. He looked so....gigantic and mad. Like a monster. He started trembling, but this time his whole body trembled in fear.  


"Don't you DARE to disobey me!", came the next shout full of rage. Daisuke winced, both of fear and pain. This wasn't his father....it was a monster. Images of previous fights flashed through his head - fights with digimon, fights he had won, because he had been together with his friends....

_Why can't I manage it when I am alone?? Why not when it's....HIM?_

Another blow hit his upper arm, sending an burning pain through his whole left side.   


"I don't want a failure in MY house!", Daisuke was taken by the taller man and thrown against the sofa. He breathed heavily, fists balling in pain.  
His father glared at him, and the boy curled up, hugging his knees. He tried to crawl away from this devil, as far as possible, but there was a wall in his back, and all he could do was lifting his arms in a weak attempt of protection. Tears were cascading down his face, drenching the t-shirt, mixing with the blood. And the next blow came.   


A new wave of pain shot through his body, and he bit on his lower lip, not permitting himself to cry out aloud. His face felt hot, burning, and all he wanted to do was to crawl away and to hide...under a rock, in a cupboard....in a place where nobody, not even the sunlight could reach him.

The next movements were a blur. He would remember the voice, and the pain, but he couldn't make out images. Just the metallic smell of blood in his mouth. His father shouting at him, although he didn't hear the words. The pain. PAIN. And...shame. Shame that he was a failure. Shame that he was treated like this.  


He tried to feel hatred, but there was none. Only the fear....an overwhelming fear in his heart, fear of this certain person. Humiliated. Beaten. Injured. Mentally abused. Whatever.

----_- **Physical Abuse **is characterized by the infliction of physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child. The parent or caretaker may not have intended to hurt the child; rather, the injury may have resulted from over-discipline or physical punishment._

_-----** Emotional Abuse** (psychological/verbal abuse/mental injury) includes acts or omissions by the parents or other caregivers that have caused, or could cause, serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders. child's behavior or condition, are sufficient to warrant child protective_

  
The next thing Daisuke knew that he was in his room. He was lying on the floor, his head aching and panting heavily. He didn't move. His body was shaking so hard that he couldn't control it, and still the tears were flowing down his face. He coughed a few times, spilling the floor with blood. Although he felt weak, he crawled to the other side of the room. He wanted to get away from his father, and every meter counted. Daisuke opened the door to his cupboard and climbed inside. He curled up in a ball and closed the door. Here, in the darkness of the cupboard, he felt at least a little bit safe. HE was out there, but HE couldn't come into his place. In the darkness, he was safe.  


The air was sticky, it was uncomfortable and he was hungry. But nothing could have convinced him to leave this 'safe' place. Everything out there was territorial of the enemy. Of the _beast_. 

*******************

Later that day his sister returned. Over the last months, Jun had started to check on her brother on a daily basis. Since their father had started this, she felt responsible for her smaller sibling. And guilty, too, because her father would treat her much better than him. He beat her, and it hurt, but compared with the things Daisuke had to endure, it was nothing. But the girl was as afraid as her brother, and she feared that he would probably kill them both if she told anyone about this...so she kept her mouth shut and tried her best in patching up her and her brother's wounds, hoping that someday this would end and she could live peacefully again...like she had did two years ago. Maybe three. Or even four. She didn't remember it exactly. It just had....started.

However, when she came home this day, she knew exactly that it had happened again. Daisuke was nowhere to be seen, and the living room was untidy; signs of a fight. She peered into the room of her brother and sighed sadly. He had, again, hide himself in the wardrobe, a habit he had gotten used to over the last months. Every time his father would beat him, he would go into the cupboard, refusing to leave it and claiming that it was the only safe place.

She went to the kitchen and searched for some food. Experience had taught her that her brother surely hadn't eaten anything, and the boy really needed to be strong.  


With a tray of food she sneaked into his room, trying to be silent because she knew that her father would be mad at her if he knew that she was doing this.   


"Daisuke?", she whispered, softly knocking on the cupboard door. She didn't get a reply.  


"Davis? I know that you are in there."  


"Go away.", came the sniffled answer.  


"How bad is it?", Jun asked worriedly. The voice of her brother sounded full of pain, and she winced when she heard the defeated tone in it.   


"Go away.", was the only response.  


"No.", she said. "I have food for you. You are hungry, aren't you?"  


"Leave me in peace.", the boy sniffed again, although his stomach was growling.  


Jun sighed. "Daisuke, I just want to help you. You don't have to come outside....it's enough when you open the door a little bit."  


"No."  


"Please."  


"No. Go away."  


"Let me help you!"  


"No. You can't help me. Nobody can."  


Jun leaned her head on the door. It was bad this time, and she knew that she wouldn't get her brother out of the cupboard before the next day. Sometimes he stayed there for over 20 hours. She sincerely hoped that it wasn't one of those times, but her feelings told her different things. He sounded far too frightened...  


"Davis....you have to eat something. And I have to look at your injuries..."  


"....."  


"Would it be okay if I came inside?"  


"...I don't know."  


"Come on."  


"A-Alright..."  


The door opened a little bit and Jun let out a relieved sigh. The first step was done. A step she had to reach again and again, because her....father...kept destroying everything she had reached. She crawled inside the cupboard, comforting her bruised and beaten brother. These were the only times he cried in front of her, the only times he allowed her to hug him.

He buried his head in her chest, sobbing madly. Jun rocked him back and forth, cursing destiny that it had given such a cruel father to them, cursing herself because she couldn't prevent it....cursing the world because they just kept living, ignoring all the terrible things which were happening directly in their neighbourhood.  
It was dark in the cupboard, but for once Jun welcomed it. This way her brother couldn't see her tears.

_Wings_

_Will never fly again_

_Were made to sail through the clouds_

_Were made to fly_

_Weren't meant to be broken_

_Staying on the ground_

_never flying again?_

  


****************  


In the next morning, Jun woke up in her own bed. In the first moment, she didn't remember anything. Then she groaned, as her brain revealed the pictures of the previous evening. She hadn't managed it to take Davis out of the wardrobe, he had been to scared. Knowing that too much pressure was never good, the girl had left him there after he had fallen asleep in her arms.   


She stared at the ceiling, wondering when her life had started to become such a misery. When they had been kids, everything had been wonderful. Daisuke and her, they had laughed a lot, always playing on the streets with other children...Their life had changed slowly from happy to worse to the living hell. And when Jun saw the look of suppression and misery in her brother's eyes, the face of a child who had only seen the fearsome side of life for the last years, she felt hatred for the whole world.  


The poor boy, sometimes she wished that she could look into his head. He had to be crazy of fear, but nevertheless he managed it to pull his usual act of a cheerful boy. Nobody had noticed anything.

Sometimes she wished that Daisuke wouldn't be so good in acting. Then maybe somebody would notice this and call for help. There were special organizations, founded to help abused children. But then she saw the look in her father's eyes when he stared at her, and everything froze. She was scared like hell...she had asked Davis about this once. She had told him that there were places where they could go. That they weren't the only ones, and that maybe someone could help them. But Jun hadn't been very convinced by her own words, and Daisuke's reply had been very clear. 

_No, Jun, please don't tell anyone! He will kill me, I know it, he will kill me...and it hurts so bad, it will hurt even worse than it does now, so please Jun, don't say a word....promise it...please!_  


He had nearly hyperventilated, so she had promised him. But how long would this torture last? She had to watch how her brother was slowly, but steadily destroyed - mentally and physically. Was there no way to prevent it?

She sighed and stood up. How often had she thought about this topic? There were rare hours in which her mind wasn't worrying about their current situation, but it seemed to be a trap with no way out. They were prisoners. Trapped...

Jun glanced out of her room and noticed to her relief that her father was already gone. Luckily he left the house before they left to school, so they could usually avoid meeting him in the morning.   


She softly opened the door to Daisuke's room and whispered: "Morning."  
He was still in the wardrobe. "Won't you come out?", Jun asked and sat down before the closed door.  


"No.", came the muffled reply, and Jun sighed. "Haven't we had this conversation already?"   


Thoughtfully she stared at the door, feeling helpless. "You know, there's school today. Won't you go?"  


"I...I can't go today.", Daisuke's voice shook. "I'm too frightened....the others will notice."  


"Alright.", Jun agreed. "But we have to be careful, so that father won't notice it. You know that he isn't very fond of you staying at home..."  


"I know."  


"Will you stay in there?"  


"Yes."  


"Isn't it boring?"  


"I-I don't mind. I'm safe. I don't want to leave..."  


"Okay.", Jun rubbed her eyes. "I won't go to school, too. I will bring you some food.", she told him and left the room. Over the months she had learned that she couldn't press her brother. He would panic and seeing Daisuke panic was a very scaring view. Plus, his state was even worse after that....  


"Great.", she muttered and dug through the fridge. "That's the third time I'm missing this month....".   


She would certainly get a detention, but that wasn't the problem. She had to find a good excuse why Daisuke was staying at home. And they were getting lamer and lamer each time she had to invent one...  


She made some sandwiches and went back to the room. "You know, you could at least open the door a bit.", she told her brother. "Then I can give you the sandwiches, and see your face. Father is not here, and you hear it when someone unlocks the front door.", Jun waited for some seconds and added: "Please, Davis. Do it for me."  


Slowly, inches by inches, the wardrobe door opened and Daisuke peered out. Jun flinched inwardly when she saw the bruised and tired face of her brother. Now in the daylight she could see the full results of her father's beatings. Daisuke's lip and nose were bloody, his right eye was black and the whole left arm bruised. But the worst was the hunted look in his eyes. Lost. Frightened. Pleading for help. It made him so much younger than he actually was. He looked like eight or nine years old. 

His skinny frame didn't make this any better. Over the last weeks, he hadn't eaten much. The fact that he practically made a diet once a week, every time when got beaten, and that he usually wasn't a good eater when he was frightened didn't make this nay better. He looked worn out, and if he wouldn't wear long t-shirts all the time, you would see the bones under the skin. 

Jun herself wasn't any better. The trouble and worry was nagging at her, and she had lost quite some pounds.   
Long ago both Motomiya siblings had lost their spirits; they were just playing masquerade and it was just a question of time until something would discover the truth.  


But, as Jun asked herself over and over again, what if it was too late? What if nobody could bring back her brother from his withdrawn state? What if they discovered it...after their father had killed them both??? 

**- Present - **

The hospital room was silent. Just the ticking of a clock could be heard.   


Tick-Tack.  
Tick-Tack.  
Tick-Tack.  


A painful sound, reminding of the passing time. Time...what was time? It could have several meaning. It could be from great importance....for the boy in the hospital bed, however, time was nothing but an empty word. In fact everything was empty for the boy. Nobody could say what he felt because he didn't talk. _Withdrawn_. Apathetic. His body was small and thin, making him much younger than he actually was. Who could read his thoughts? They had tried. But can you read someone's thoughts? Can you understand the pain?

Tick-tack.

Most people would have thought that the sound was annoying. But the boy didn't care. He didn't care at all. He should talk, he had to talk, but....he didn't talk. Why? Nobody could say it. Fear is a mighty power, and no scientist has managed it to reveal all mysteries about this destroying power. 

Many, many cases of child abuse have been reported in the last ten, twenty, fifty years. Each of them similar, but with a sadness over them which made it hard to understand. Normal human-beings just couldn't do that - understand. How can a mother hurt her child? How can a father abuse his daughter?  


The minds of children are made of glass. They are beautiful, shiny, but one pointy dart, one stone thrown in direction of their hearts....and every dream, every hope shatters into little pieces. Pieces nobody can gather together and...make a new mind out of it.

Tick-Tack.

The time passed. But the boy didn't exist in time anymore. He was....dead. His soul had died. Or vanished. Left was the body, the empty reminder of an unbelievable cruelty. His wings, the wings of his soul, were broken. There were meant to fly, to fly him through the world....but now? Nothing was left....

Tick-Tack.

But the clock continued ticking. Time continues. Always. It's a steady flow, and although things were happening....causing individuals to leave time, it never stops. The human beings continue living, they laugh and cry. The weather changes. It rains and the sun shines. The sun doesn't care about the fact that hundreds of children are crying. That thousands of people are dying because of hunger, fear or war. Neither does the rain care about the fact that right now someone is marrying.  
Time never stops.

Tick-Tack.

What happened to him?  
_....things you can't imagine..._  
What is he going through?  
_....Nobody can know..._  
Why isn't he coming back?  
_....because he isn't there anymore..._  
Will he come back?  
.......

Tick-Tack.

And every dream of Daisuke Motomiya had died. Had died and left him, alone, vulnerable, with broken wings...

_How can you live with them_

_if there's nothing_

_to live for???_

  
**To be continued...**

If anyone has some ideas, please feel free to tell them. For example I am totally lost when it comes to the fact where they shall live...And a huge THANK YOU for all the reviews.*smiles brightly*  



	3. Lost

**Notes:** This chapter comes really late...I'm sorry. And I have no real excuse for it...I had some problems, and then I didn't know how to continue, and then I couldn't reach my beta-reader(Settiai, where are you? I mailed you!), so I had to ask another friend of me. THANKS to** Icelightning**, who corrected so many of my silly mistakes! You're great, girl! Oh, and if you ever want to read good Mighty Ducks stories, read Icelightning's *hint hint* Uhm, there's really not much to say. I hope you like this chapter, and again sorry for the delay.._.~Kaeera _

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

**Part Three: Lost **

The pen scribbled over the paper, making scratching noises. The room was silent; only this noise could be heard. The boy who was causing it, sat at the desk, solving math problems. Numbers were written steadily on the sheet by the blue pen. Suddenly the hand hesitated. It twitched a few times, as if it didn't know exactly what to do, and the hand trembled.   
He held the pen tighter, his knuckles becoming white. A few more numbers were scribbled down, then he stopped again.  


"I can't do it", Ken stared on the sheet. He buried his head in his hands. "I just keep seeing this image in my head, and it's so...so..." He couldn't find the words to describe what he was feeling.  


"Ken...", Wormmon crawled to his side. "You shouldn't give up hope."  


His indigo hairs were falling into his eyes. "Hope? Where's hope? I don't see it. Wormmon, you didn't see him, because I left you at home. It was....", he just shook his head, a few tears splattering on the numbers on the paper, smearing the scribbled notes, but Ken didn't care.

"Do you know that it was actually the first time when I saw fear written in his face?" he said absently, looking out of the window. "I've seen him shocked, angry, laughing, crying, even serious...but scared?"  
He hesitated for a moment, "He was unconscious. Lying on the floor with his eyes closed. But even then you could see how frightened he had been - must have been. His face was frozen like stone. Fear...Fear.... So much fear. And then the blood...."

"Don't talk about it when it hurts so much," the digimon suggested, his large eyes shining with concern for both his friend and his partner.

"No," Ken shook his head. "It's better if I tell it. Maybe then I feel better. It's lying on my heart like a big stone, a heavy weight which is crushing me..."

He took a deep breath and began to tell the events of that faithful day.

"When I went upstairs to his flat, I didn't suspect anything. Sure, Davis had been acting a little bit strange over the last months, but I thought that it was because of the school pressure and all the stress....he was really trying to get good grades, but most of the time he didn't manage it. And when he didn't answer my phone calls or the messages I left for him....it was normal for him. He never listened to the answering machine. I walked up his staircase....I've gone up them so many times that I can tell you exactly how many stairs there are. His walls were a bluish-gray color. The door to his apartment was brown with a small sign on it, showing 'Motomiya'. I went there like always, went there and rang the bell, rang it several times, but no one responded. I thought that it was strange, because we had an appointment. But I knew Davis, at least I thought I knew him, so I just expected that he was playing some video games and didn't hear the door. For a moment I stood there, lost, not knowing what to do."

He played with the pen in his hands, focusing on it as if it had words to read on it, "I noticed that the door was open. I didn't think anything bad....I just entered. The Motomiya's were always so forgetful that it wasn't a big surprise. But then, in the flat, it was...different. It was so calm, so very calm. Silent. Like....death. And there was a strange smell in the air. Metallic. I shouted "Hello!", shouted that I was there, but nobody answered. It was then when I started to become worried. I walked into Daisuke's room. Nobody there. Just this strange atmosphere - creepy, dreading, dark. Unsure of what to do, I finally entered the living room. And there I found him....."

His voice trembled and it took Ken great effort to continue. He closed his eyes because he didn't want to see his memories, didn't want to remember, didn't want to see his friend like that....

"He was lying, on the ground, in a pool of his own blood. I didn't notice it him at first. I stared into the living room, noticed the couch lying on the floor, saw the dirt on the ground, realized what a mess it was. There was a red liquid on the ground, and when my eyes followed the trail, I saw his body....I couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true! I stared at him, stared and stared, stared in shock. His face was covered with bruises and cuts. The pain engraved in his face...Pain and an incredible fear. And the blood....it was so red. A dark red, like ketchup. Like the ketchup you get at the McDonald's. But it wasn't ketchup. It was real! My friend, my best friend was laying in his own living room. I thought that he was dead. I couldn't see him breathing. And his face was so pale. So very pale."

"I don't know how long I stood there. Minutes, hours, seconds, all could be possible. For me it seemed to be an eternity. I didn't move. Didn't flinch. Didn't even cry. Then, finally, I managed it to call the ambulance. With trembling fingers I dialed the number. I don't know what I told them. Something like 'My friend is dead'. I guess I was panicked, freaked out, whatever. It was a wonder that they could find out the right address. They were fast. I think. Maybe. I have no idea. After I had made the phone call, I went back into the living room and stared at his body again. Memories were going through my head, so many memories. His face, laughing, smiling, eating ice-cream. His attitude, carefree, thick-headed, optimistic. 'Is it all over?', I thought and couldn't believe it. I wanted to touch him, but I was too scared."

He stared into the space, not really seeing his surroundings. "When they finally came and told me that he was still alive, I could have danced of joy. Back then I didn't realize what had really happened."

Ken's shoulders shook as he started sobbing. Wormmon crawled into his lap and hugged him with all his feet. The digimon himself was deeply shocked by the story of his indigo-haired friend. In all the time he had known Daisuke, the goggle-wearing boy had always a place reserved in his heart. He liked Daisuke, liked him as a friend, and enjoyed being together with him and his partner, Veemon. And now this Daisuke couldn't be there anymore? Was he lost forever?

He didn't understand it. He had always thought that parents loved their children. That they cared for them, even when they quarrelled from time to time. But...something like that? A single tear dropped down his face.

"Ken...", he said, trying to comfort his friend. "I know that it's terrible. But we can't let him down now. He needs us, and he needs you especially, as his best friend. Imagine what Daisuke must be feeling! You have to be strong, you have to help him....and you have to keep the hope that one day he might return as the old Davis we all know."

"I know," Ken whispered. "But it's so difficult. So damn difficult...." he stared at his green friend. "Everytime when I see him, I want to beat his father. I want to beat the world because that happened to my best friend one of the nicest people I have ever known. But I have to pull together, because only then can I help him."

He stayed silent for a short moment. "But....when I talk to him, he doesn't seem to hear anything of the words I say. When I come nearer, he tries to hide, because he thinks that I will beat him. He...hides. He flees from me. And I don't know what to do...."

Wormmon thought for a moment. "Couldn't Veemon help him?"

Ken's eyes shot open. "Veemon?", he stood abruptly up and looked around. "I've totally forgotten him! Where's Veemon? I didn't see him in Daisuke's apartment. You could be right, Wormmon, there's a special bond between digidestined and their digimon, maybe that could help. Why didn't I think of that before?" He scratched his chin. "Maybe he's in the Digital World....I'll ask the others about this. Maybe they can help us in searching for our friend."

With a sudden energy he jumped towards his cupboard and took the telephone, ready to call his friends. It was at least something to do, and it would distract him from the horrible images in his head.  
His homework was still laying on the table, unfinished, the pen somewhere on the desk between masses of papers. Slowly the teardrops dried.

******************************

  


_There were voices, many voices. Some of them yelling, some laughing, whispering, crying. They were coming from all sides, voices without words, nameless. Sometimes persons would appear, doing things, walking around, coming nearer. It wasn't good when they came nearer. Then they changed and became large shadows._

_The shadow reminded of something. Something bad. Large and bad. _

_Voices, voices around him. In his head, in his soul, in his heart._

_The pain, the pain was always there. Hurting. Everything hurt. Everybody hurts. Painful. Everybody wanted to hurt everybody. Not good. Bad. Evil. Not seeing others._

_Some voices were nicer than others. Images were coming along with the voices. Nice images. Laughing people. Smiling people. Shining sun. Flowers. People. Many people. _

_People were bad. People didn't laugh. Evil. No laughter. Just evil laughter. Never go to people. People will hurt. Hurt you. Pain is terrible. Pain. Sadness. Darkness._

_Voices, so many voices. Always there. Always calling. Always shouting his name. No words. No words. Just voices. Loud voices, old voices, strange voices, bad voices...._

  
*****************************

"Miss Motomiya, this is serious!"

Jun stared on her hands with a determined look on her face, "I'm serious, too. I don't want to be seperated from my brother. He's the only one I've got....and he needs me," she looked at the social worker with pleading eyes. Her face was pale, with huge shadows under her eyes, and the whole girl seemed to be thin and skinny. The past had had her effects on Jun, too.

The social worker, a woman around forty, with red hair and warm, gray eyes, sighed and took her pen. "I can understand your feelings. I really can. But there are laws. You're brother will be put into a clinic which is specialised on apathetic children. It will be the best for him, and your parents will have to pay for it - It's most likely that the judge will see them as guilty, as there's so much evidence against them. However, there's no place for you in that clinic, and so you'll be put into a foster home, or an orphanage. You can visit your brother every day, believe me, they even want that you do that. But you can't live with him!"

"But I...", the girl didn't know what to say and shrunk in her chair. "I just want everything to be like before....", she whispered with teary eyes and held her head down.

The woman smiled a bit. "I know," she replied softly. "But your brother needs professional help. As soon as his wounds are healed, he will be brought into that clinic. During that time, you will live in the orphanage of the city. There's already a room for you."

Jun fell silent and stared out of the window. It was another beautiful day, the birds singing in the trees and the warm sun shining down on the people, but her heart was bleeding. The image of her brother always came into her mind, his lost and dead eyes, the small skinny body and the white face.

"Okay," she spoke softly, as if to convince herself. "It's okay. Okay."

Mrs. Seto, the social worker, knew that it wasn't okay, but she didn't say anything. She was a nice lady, her eyes full of warmth and love. Every time she met such kids like Jun, she felt anger rise and the sadness overcame her.

"I will drive you home so that you can pack your stuff," she said. "You don't have to go inside if you don't want to; you may give me a list with the things you and your brother will need and I will search for them."

"Yeah. Okay," replied the girl absently and continued to stare out of the window.

***********************

They were all in Koushiro's room, both the old and new digidestined. The bearer of the crest of knowledge was sitting in front of his laptop and typing furiously on the keyboard.  


"Have you found him?", asked an anxious Ken. He was standing behind the redhead, impatiently tapping with his feet.  


"Are you sure that Veemon is in the Digital World?", asked Takeru. "I mean, he could be everywhere. Maybe he escaped or maybe Daisuke's fa-....", he couldn't finish the last word, but the darkness on his face showed enough.   


Ken shook his head. "I have no idea. But...but it seems like the greatest possibility. Maybe Daisuke wanted to make sure that Veemon was safe and put him into the Digital World. I just know that we have to find him; he's probably the only one who can still communicate with Davis."  


Koushiro scratched his chin. "It's pretty difficult to locate a digimon with the computer, but I think I have at least found the area. We must go through the gate and search for ourselves."  


The kids looked at each other and nodded. "We'll split in groups.", Tai stated and walked to the computer. "So that we can cover a big area."  


"Let's go!", Ken grabbed Wormmon. "We have to hurry..."

It took them a few seconds to open the digital gate. Without any hesitation the ten kids went through it.

In the Digital World the partners of the older kids were already waiting. The greeting, however, was short, for all their minds were troubled.  
"Okay, we'll start," Tai announced. "Who will go with whom?"

"Ken and I will search the mountains in the north.", Miyako offered.  
Cody looked at her, nodding, "Then I'll go with Joe and Koushiro, if that's okay." 

The two older boys nodded, and Joe added, "We will head to the south."

"Kari and I can go westwards.", Takeru glanced at Hikari. "There are some woods, and I think it would be a likely place for Veemon. After all there's food."  


"Hm, yeah," Tai scratched his chin. "Then Sora, Matt and me will walk to the east. Give your best, people!"  
They waved to each other and left the place, followed by their digimon.

"I just hope that we'll find him....", Miyako sighed and looked at Ken. She was a bit worried. The former digimon Kaiser took the events pretty badly. 'No surprise,' she thought gloomily, 'I would have freaked out too if I had found Davis lying like dead in his home. It must have been horrible...'

"Are you okay?", she asked softly, wanting to say something, and immediately cursed herself for doing so. "Oh no, that was a stupid question. Of course you are not, none of us are...I just wanted to..."

Ken smiled weakly, "I know. You don't have to feel sorry, you want to help. But I don't think that it's me who needs help - it's Daisuke."

Miyako nodded, speaking softly,. "I can't understand why we didn't see it...."

"Me neither. You always think that something so cruel like child abuse would be noticed, but we were blind. We just saw what we wanted to see!"

"Why didn't he tell us about it?"

Ken laughed shortly, a bitter laugh, "Miyako, you know Daisuke. He's a wandering talkmaster, but did he ever tell you anything private? Did he ever tell you when he felt depressed or wanted to cry? His true feelings?"

"I....", Miyako thought for a moment. "No...", she admitted, surprised by Ken's observation. Now when she thought about it...the boy with the goggles had always talked a lot, but never important things. It was like a...distraction. A distraction from his real self?

"He never said anything about how he felt. It was like acting. He talked so much that we didn't notice that he was actually silent. Other people say nothing, and he talks nonsense. It took a long time to figure that out, because I'm exactly the opposite - I never talk much about myself or about anything else. I even felt a little bit jealous of him, because he was able to spill his guts to everyone. Then I started to watch him closely. He's my best friend, but not even I knew anything about his deepest feelings. In fact, I can say that I never knew the true Daisuke..."

Miyako stared at him, "That would be...I mean, I always assumed that he was like that...silly, goofy, funny and with no real feelings. Like a comic figure." Suddenly, she felt bad about it.  


"See what I mean?", the boy brushed his hair out of his face. "Maybe he would have opened with the time. Maybe...he would have trusted us enough to tell the truth. But it was too late....when I found him; it was too late..."

The girl gently took his arm, "It's not the time to be depressed. We have to be strong for Daisuke. He needs you! Needs us, but you especially. You know him, and I think he trusts you. He was just too scared to say anything."

"I know...I know.", they continued to walk through the green landscape, searching for a certain blue digimon. 

_The white feathers_

_darkening the sun_

_Broken Wings_

_reaching out to fly_

_failing_

_Broken Eyes_

_Window to the soul has closed_

"I can't see him, can you?", Hikari searched through the bushes for any signs of the small digimon.  


"Nothing.", came the tired reply. "We don't even know if he's here or not. Heck, we don't even know if Veemon is still alive.", Takeru slumped to the ground and covered his eyes with his hands. "This is just so hopeless..."

Hikari didn't know what to say for a moment, but finally managed to come up with a reply,. "TK, if we give up hope, everything is lost, you know that..."

"Of course I do! It's just...Kari, every time I see him, I want to cry and beat somebody. But I can't do anything! I'm just standing there, like a complete idiot! If we try to hug him, he panics. If we talk to him, he doesn't hear us. I just...just want everything to be normal again!"

The girl fell silent for a minute. "We all want that.", she finally whispered softly. "It happens so often that I wish...that I wonder why I didn't see it. Or why he didn't tell us. I always believed that we were friends and that he trusted us...but I was wrong. And now it's too late, it's too god damn late! I can understand how you feel, because all of us feel the same way. But that doesn't mean that we can give up. We have to be strong. We have to keep our light - and our hope!"  


Takeru sighed and nodded. "I never thought that I had to deal with this kind of topic.", he mumbled and stood up. "Child abuse..."

************************

  


She walked up the stairs to the apartment and couldn't help but feeling afraid. She had refused Mrs.Seto's suggestion for the woman to get her things, and wanted to go by herself, but ;rs. Seto had insisted that she should at least accompany her. But now, when she stood in front of the door, Jun felt strange - scared, sad and excited. She hadn't come home since the tragic events, and she hadn't seen either of her parents. Well, she was quite happy about not seeing her father, but her mothers...she missed her.

The door opened and revealed a gloomy room. The windows were darkened and there were still traces of the police who had searched for evidence against Mr. Motomiya. Jun gulped and entered the apartment. With half-closed eyes, she walked directly into her room, carefully avoiding to look at the place where Daisuke had laid. She couldn't bear to see the dried blood on the ground...  


Her room still looked the same. The pictures on the wall, the CDs, the books, and her backpack on the ground. For the last four days she had practically lived in the hospital, and somebody had been so nice to bring her a few things out of her room. But now she needed to move, and that meant that she had to pack her stuff. The girl took a bag and put various clothes into it. She wasn't really paying attention, just trying to do this as fast as possible and to leave her home, a place which had lost the warmth one would associate with that word.

On her desk lied her school stuff: her books, pens, and sheets. Sadly she looked at it, thinking of the school - when would she return? When would she be strong enough to return? She was so very alone now...  
Jun felt like she was in a trance, she took the pens and stuffed them in the bag. 

Mrs. Seto was standing in the door, watching the girl. "Shall I help you?", she asked.

"Jun shook her head and answered in a hoarse voice: "No. No, I can do that alone. It's...I think I have to do it."  
Although the girl herself didn't really know why she had to do it, the woman seemed to understand.

A small framed picture caught her attention, and she took it in her hands. It showed herself at the age of eleven and her brother, also younger. They were both smiling, two wide laughing kids with ice-cream in their faces and on their clothes. So happy, so free....what had happened? Why? Why her brother? Why Daisuke?

He didn't earn that. She didn't earn that. He had been such a cheerful kid, stupid at times, annoying and thick-headed, but nonetheless lovely.

"Why?", she whispered and felt a tear trickle down her cheek. 

A supporting hand reached to touch her shoulder. "Nobody can answer that question.", came the soft voice of the social worker.

"But he didn't earn that...", Jun continued without looking at the woman.

"Nobody does. And nobody can understand it. Such things happen. It's sad and unforgivable, but they happen, sometimes even to people we love and care for. We can just try and help as good as possible."

Mrs.Seto gazed to the image. "Sometimes the life seems to be full of sadness. Rain. Grey. Death. Sorrow. But it continues. Life. It never stops. And because it never stops, we can never give up hope. We aren't allowed to give up hope, because as long as the world is turning, there's hope...it now depends on all of us; you, your brother, his friends, the doctors and me..."

Jun nodded, "I know." How often had she said that? I know...she knew it, of course. She knew that it was right. Bur her feelings didn't change...never....and everything seemed to be sad.   
She put the picture away, placing it carefully into the bag. "I think I'm ready."

The girl stood up and took the bag in her arms, hugging it like a teddy. "Can we visit Daisuke before I go to the orphanage?", she asked with pleading eyes. "I have to tell him that I won't sleep in his room anymore....even if he doesn't hear me."

Mrs.Seto smiled. "I'm sure that he can hear you - somehow. He's not deaf. And of course you can visit him." 

  


_There was this shadow. Dark. Big. Frightening. It had a face, but he didn't want to see it. He knew the face. He had trusted the face. And it had betrayed him. He didn't want to be betrayed again..._

_They weren't leaving him in peace. The voices. The people. The evil people. It was scary. Sometimes he saw them. Just shadows. Some bigger, some smaller. He heard them. Their voices. Speaking words he didn't want to understand. Telling him things he didn't want to hear. _

_He just wanted to go away. He didn't want to go back. just staying. Here. Warm. Peaceful. Silent. No Pain. Never feeling pain again. Why leaving?  
Outside were evil people. People hurt. People screamed. People caused pain. He remembered. Remembered scenes. Saw images. Just shadows, but enough to scare him.  
Life was pain. Just pain._

_He had felt enough pain. Pain meant suffering. And he didn't want it. To suffer. He just wanted to stay...to stay....in peace..._

**To be continued....**_  
_


	4. Shattered Memories

**Notes**: I'm still amongst the living, only that you know. And I didn't abandon the story. I just...take my time^^ Thanks for the many reviews I received, you guys really encourage me to continue writing this...I know that Davis has to suffer a lot, and there's still no improvement in this chapter, but I hope it will come...sometimes... 

Again I have to thank my beta-reader **Icelightning**. She corrected many of my silly mistakes and is constantly trying to teach me the correct way of using quotations, semi-colons and commas(because the German rules are different). Although I always forget these rules when I am writing...sorry, Ice^^ Anyway, I would be lost without you, so...thanks! 

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

  


**Part Four: Shattered Memories**

  
"Hello Daisuke.", Jun whispered and entered the hospital room. Her little brother didn't reply. His empty gaze frightened her, and she wondered again if there was any chance that the old Davis, the Davis she had lost so long ago, would ever return.  


Slowly she sat down and took his limp hand into hers. "The weather is good today.", she told him, a sad smile on her lips. "I wish you could see it. The sun is shining, and it's warm, and the birds are singing...in the park the kids are playing soccer, they ran into me when I walked here. They didn't even notice me, as exciting as their game was. And I don't live at home anymore. I moved into this orphanage, yesterday. It's not that bad, really. I share my room with another girl, Kathryn, who's one year younger than me. She's nice. I like her. But I wish that you would be there, with me...because...I miss you..."

The boy just continued to stare and didn't reply. But Jun knew that he could hear her. She knew it with her heart. And she was determined to get him back, to wake him up. To make him laugh again.

"I know that I can't understand what you are feeling. I mean, he beat me, too, but it was never like yours...and all my bubbling here won't help you, that's for sure. I want to help you, but I don't know how. The only thing I can do is to tell you that there are still people who love you...who trust you and who want you back. That's me, and all your friends - you have many friends, more than me, and they are all worried and visit you regularly."

She suddenly stopped and looked at the window. There a small bird had landed and was now chirping softly. "Look.", Jun smiled. "The bird. It's talking to you. Don't you want to reply?", her gaze shifted towards the lifeless form of her brother. She inched closer, with the only result that he suddenly backed away with an expression of fear in his eyes. Jun sighed. He had made progress, true, for now she could take his hand without him screaming and panicking, but that was all...she couldn't hug him, and if someone made a sudden movement, he would panic.

"It's okay.", she murmured in a soothing voice. "It's just me. Nobody will hurt you. Father is away. Father will never come again. He's in jail."

The frightened look started to disappear, but he had taken his hand out of her grip and wouldn't let her hold it again. "Daisuke...", his sister pleaded. "Let me help you. Talk with me. Talk with someone. Just open your mouth and...and...speak to me...", her voice trailed off. "I miss hearing you..."

It was hopeless. Daisuke wouldn't reply, whatever Jun tried to do. She had talked with the nurse, had talked with the doctor, and everybody had told her that Daisuke was in a traumatic state, in a shock and that he needed to wake up, to face reality. But....it never happened! He was...lost...

F_LASHBACK_

_  
"Stop crying, Davis, please stop crying.", Jun pleaded and hugged her younger brother. "It will be okay, just calm down, it will be okay..."_

_"He beat me," was the muffled reply. Daisuke clung at his sister and looked up at her with big, sad eyes. "He beat me. He beat me in the face..."  
Jun could see the red mark on his cheek, the blood running down from his nose, and felt anger dwell in her. Why had father done it? Sure, Daisuke had done something stupid, and maybe he even deserved a kind of detention, but this was...cruel..._

_"He was just angry.", the girl explained, but didn't believe it herself._

_"I-It hurts..."_

_"I know. I know, Davis. It will pass away. It will stop." She felt hot tears in her own eyes, but was afraid to show them. "He was being mean..."_

_"It's my fault, not?"_

_At first Jun thought that she had heard wrong, but when she looked at her brother, she saw the fear in his eyes, and realized that he had actually meant what he said. "No, of course not!", she answered forcefully. Why did the boy think such...stupid things?_

_"But...but he says that I deserved it! He says that it's my fault, because I am a failure, because I'm weak and...and...if I would be stronger, this wouldn't happening, then he would be proud of me..."_

_"But Davis..."_

_He crawled backwards, freeing himself out of her embrace, and sniffed. The girl didn't know what to say, he seemed to be convinced that it was HIS fault when this bastard hit him..._

_"Davis, none of this is your fault! You've done nothing wrong, you're a great kid! Maybe you are a little bit loud, but you have a caring heart, and everybody likes you. It's Father's fault; he's a sick bastard and I think he likes the feeling of power he has over you..."_

_"NO!", the answer was cried and Jun blinked. "It's just me, like always! It's always me! I am the stupid one! I am too weak! I can't manage anything! I am a failure! A good son wouldn't deserve beatings, and no father would hit a good son. It's because I am bad! It's because of me!"_

_He was crying now, tears cascading down his face as he rocked back and forth. No matter what Jun said, it didn't calm him down, and he didn't believe her words She finally let out a frustrated sigh, giving up..._

  


* * *

  
He didn't like this. No, he didn't like this at all. It wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to be here, he was supposed to help his partner and friend...  
Veemon sighed in frustration and sat down on a stone. There was no way out of the Digital World without a D3; he was stuck. He was stuck while Davis was probably suffering and hurting....something bad had happened, he knew it. He felt it! A few days ago Davis had sent him here, despite his protest, telling him that it would be the best for both. Veemon doubted this. He could have protected the boy from his abusive father, could have just digivolved and thrown the man out of the window. But Davis had always refused, and didn't permit him to tell anyone about this.

Although Veemon hadn't liked it, he had to made this promise. And the blue digimon usually kept promises.

However, now he was here, knowing that something had happened to his partner and there was no way to help him. He had already tried to contact Davis or another digidestined with the TV, but it hadn't worked.

Great. Really great. The small creature let out a frustrated sigh and sat down on the ground. He was so...worried! And he hated being worried! 

"Veemon?"

Hey...somebody had called him! His head shot up and he looked frantically around, believing that he had imagined it, but then he saw two familiar, human-like figures strolling through the shadows.

"Hello?", he asked uncertainly.

"Veemon!", the figures turned around and began to walk towards him. When they came closer, Veemon could see a girl with long, violet hair.

"Miyako?", he blinked. 

The girl waved at him. "We were searching for you!" A look of relief crossed her face.

Ken appeared behind her. "Davis needs you.", he seriously told the blue digimon. Veemon nodded. "I know. But there was no way to go back to him. Can you guys give me a lift?"

"Sure.", Miyako grinned. "And we will tell you everything on our way. Let's go."

* * *

Jun shouldered her backpack and climbed up the stairs to her new home. The orphanage was an old and big house, and the children lived together in rooms of two or three people. With a deep sigh she entered the tiny room directly under the roof and let herself fall on the bed.

"Bad day, huh?", a girl with short blonde hair asked. 

Jun just nodded. "He's still not talking."

Kathryn, her blonde roommate, sat down beside her. "I'm sure it will get better," she said in a reassuring tone. Although the two girls had known each other for maybe two days, they had immediately become friends, especially after Jun had spilled her guts in the first night, because she couldn't suppress her sobbing and Kathryn had asked her what was wrong.

"Maybe...maybe, but it's all I get as an answer!" Jun sighed. "And every time I visit him he's looking at me with these empty eyes, and I so want to hug him and hold him in my arms, but he backs away...."

They both fell silent. After a while Kathryn smiled a bit and looked at Jun. "Ya know, I have only known you for a few days, and I am maybe not the right person to say something, since I have never seen your brother, but I think that you both can manage this. You are strong, I see it in your eyes. And if your brother has the same strength, he will recover. And he will start talking again."

"Yeah...maybe...thanks, Kathryn."

"No prob."

_"He hates me Jun, right? He hates me because I am a failure! He punishes me because I deserve it! I don't want to be a failure, Jun, I don't want to be punished...what can I do? What can I do? It hurts so much...."_

Suddenly she felt the bitter hatred again, hatred for the man who had destroyed their life and who had actually managed it to make Daisuke think that all this had been his fault. It didn't matter what the girl had said in the past; he had never listened to her, had insisted that it must have been his fault - that his father was acting so cruel because of him being a failure.

_Stupid, stupid world...he's a kid. I'm a kid. Things like that shouldn't happen. To no one. Why? Why our family? Why our father?_

_He was nice when we were kids. I loved him. And now...now I hate him; now I wish that he had never existed! That's not right...children are supposed to love their parents._

_How can I love someone who stole my brother? Tell me...how can I love someone who made my brother cry?_

_I hate him. I hate him! I hate this! I hate the orphanage, I hate the hospital, I hate my parents. I hate destiny, because it allowed this to happen, and I just wish that everything had never happened...damn...._

* * *

"He was...stabbed?", Veemon paled. "No...", whispered the small digimon. "He was hurt...and I wasn't there to protect him, I let him down..."

"It's not your fault," Miyako said in a reassuring tone. "After all, he sent you here. There was no way that you could have helped him. The one and only to blame is his father!"

"Stupid jerk!"

"Did you know about it?", Hawkmon wanted to know.

Veemon nodded miserably. "All the time. And I always wished being able to tell you, but Davis didn't permit it. He was so frightened that his father would punish him even more if he found out..."

They were walking towards the meeting point. Ken had already contacted the others that they had found Veemon and that everybody should come back.

"It must have been terrible...", Wormmon, sitting on Ken's shoulder, looked down on his blue friend who was marching through the high grass with a gloomy look on his face.

"It was."

Ken sighed. "Well, maybe you can manage it to make Davis speak. He isn't answering our questions, he's like...well...far away, as if he can't hear us. And when you try to touch him, he freaks out and is frightened like hell! I mean...he doesn't even recognise that we are his friends..."

"Are human parents always like that?", Veemon looked at Ken. "Do they always cause that much pain?"

"No!", the former digimon kaizer blinked. "Most parents are really nice, and they never beat their children! But sometimes...sometimes people get kids who should have never been allowed to have some, and then the children suffer. It's an exception, though, how I said, most parents love their children."

"But when they do it, why do they do it? Because their children are bad?"

"No...no, it's not the fault of the child. Some people enjoy violence, they are like a bad digimon, they like seeing others in pain. Others have had a terrible life on their own and don't want to see someone else lucky, they are bitter and...well, actually I never could really understand why there are people who do such terrible things on a regular basis."

The blue creature sniffed. "Davis...Davis always said that his father beat him because he was a failure. That it was his fault. And that he had to deserve the punishment."

Miyako stared at Veemon. "He actually believed that? Oh my...**nobody** deserves such a punishment, nobody! And especially not Daisuke. I mean, he wasn't a failure, was he?"

Veemon nodded miserably. "That's what I told him, but he never believed me. He just continued to cry. Jun always said the same, but he didn't listen to her, either. He always believed his father, although he was being the sick bastard he is. It's so illogical, and yet it's true..."

_"Veemon, it has to be my fault, after all every parent loves his children, so there must be something with me that's wrong, that makes him mean...."_

The girl shook her head. "It's so...sad! And all this happened while we didn't notice anything! What nice friends we are! Man, somehow we have to convince him that it ISN'T his fault, that he isn't a failure...", she stormed through the grass, a sudden anger in her heart. She was angry about herself, about the world and especially about Mr. Motomiya, the cause of all their problems.

"There's the meeting point!", Ken told them and pointed to a far away TV. Some people were already standing there and looking their direction. They were waving at them and Miyako waved back.

"Let's go home and help Daisuke!"

  


_They were always there. In his room. The voices. And the people. They disturbed him. They tried to talk with him. And sometimes they tried to touch him. He didn't like that. He didn't like being touched, because then the pictures came to haunt him. He would remember these burning eyes, the hands with the knife and all the red liquid on the floor...and the pain, the incredible pain._

_Let me in peace..._

_He saw the room. He was in the room. It was mostly white, the room. With a wooden cupboard. And some things he didn't know. And a window. Outside of the window was the sky. The blue sky. Sometimes he watched it. But he didn't see the sky, instead he saw...memories. Which he didn't want. So he looked away. But the memories were always there! They were following him!_

_let me escape..._

_The people never stopped talking with him. He didn't understand them, didn't want to understand them. Sometimes, though, a word or two came through his barrier and made him shudder. Because memories flooded his mind with every word. Sometimes - rarely, but it happened - the memories were nice. But most of the time they weren't....and he was afraid._

_let me fly away...._

"How dare you to come home with such a bad result? Huh? You've failed this damn test! How stupid are you? Is there anything in your head beside your soccer?"

_let me spread my wings and escape..._

"Why are you crying? Because I hit you? Does it hurt? I hope it does, because it's supposed to hurt!! And stop staring at me like that! It's your own fault, you're a failure, it's a pity that you're MY son...here, take this! Weakling! Look at you, crying like a baby!"

_let me rest in peace..._

"You know what? I can't take it anymore! Everyone is picking on me in business, and added to that I have an useless son like you, a failure who can't do anything. I wish you had never been born, you bastard! You stupid bastard! Are you afraid of me? Are you trying to run away? What? Because I am holding a knife? Are you frightened, son? You'd better be...Oh, backing away from your father? And crying...like always, huh? Can't you fight for once? You are weak, too weak, Daisuke...you have to become stronger if you want to survive...the knife is nice, isn't it? It will be even nicer when it's covered...with your blood!"

_let me run away don't let me see the past let me fly away I want to spread my wings I wan to escape I don't want to bear the pain I don't want to see his face..._

_leave me..._

_leave..._

_me..._

_alone..._

  


* * *

"Let's call Jun.", was the first Hikari said when the Digidestined had finally travelled back to the real world, with Veemon accompanying them. "She can help us to find a way to sneak Veemon into the hospital." 

Tai looked at his friends. "Does anyone have the number of her cellphone?"

"Yes, I do.", was Matt's answer and he took out his own cellphone.

TK seemed to be surprised. "Why do you have it, if I may ask? I thought you couldn't stand her!"  


"I can't, but she took my cellphone and programmed her number into it; I kinda forgot to delete it, so it's still there!"

"Well, then call her.", Tai advised. "And everyone else can go home, I guess."

"Promise to call us when his condition changes.", Joe said.

"I will."

The kids left Koushiro's home and went on the streets, then Matt dialed Jun's number.

"Yeah.", came the tired voice out of the phone.

"Jun? It's me, Matt. Uhm..."

"Matt? Why are you calling me?" This wasn't right. Usually Jun would have squealed and giggled, but now she sounded so...uncaring...

"Well, I and the others, we were in the Digital World, we found Veemon and thought that maybe he could help your brother a little bit...ya know...after all they are best friends and so on..."

"It could be...", came the hesitant answer.

"But it could be difficult to go into the hospital with him, and since we are 'only' friends, we can't see him that often, so we wanted to ask you..."

"I understand.", he could actually hear a small smile in her voice. "Then let's meet somewhere...I'm at the orphanage at the moment, where are you?"

"Uh...do you think we could meet at the hospital?"

"Deal. I'll go there immediately." A soft click told him that she had stopped their conversation without even bothering to say 'Goodbye'.

"Strange...", mumbled Matt and looked at his phone. 

"What did she say?", Ken wanted to know. Only he, TK, Hikari, Matt, and Tai were left from the group, standing in a small circle on the street.

"She'll come to the hospital immediately. She's at the orphanage right now.", a look of pity crossed his face. "Imagine; at the orphanage! I mean...that's so cruel...being in a place with other homeless children, while your brother is lying in the hospital and your parents are in prison.", he gazed at TK. What if something like that had happened to him and his brother? What if it had been him who had to live in an orphanage, and TK being in the hospital, withdrawn, apathetic, hurt?

"It's incredible, huh?", Tai said softly. "Ya never believe that things like that could happen to a friend of you..."

Ken looked away. He could still see the scene clear in his mind; a motionless Daisuke lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. Or the fragile boy in the hospital bed, with this distant look on his face and his tendency to curl up and to hide.

"Let's go." Matt commanded harshly and turned away, not wanting to show the feelings he was experiencing right now.

The small group silently made their way towards the hospital, Hikari carrying Veemon in her arms. The blue digimon was feeling quite anxious; after what the others had told him, his Daisuke was a totally different person, not the cheerful boy he used to be...although he had known that for a long time, since the first time Davis' father had raised his hand against his child. But the boy had always managed to stand up and to continue living, because he had always had the will to live...which had now, so it seemed, mystically disappeared.

_Broken Wings_

_White feathers flying around_

_Darkening the sun_

_Broken Wings_

_Were meant to fly_

_Were meant to discover_

_Now remaining on the ground forever_

_Darkness overwhelming_

Jun waited impatiently at the front door and let out a relieved sigh when she saw the five people she had been waiting for approaching. "Over here!" she waved and the others walked towards the tall girl. She immediately recognised Veemon in Hikari's arms. "Veemon!", she shouted, relieved, and threw out her arms to hug the digimon.

"Hello Jun!", Veemon cracked a small smile. "How are ya?"

"Things could be better, but well, I guess I have to live with that. I have a nice roommate back at the orphanage."

"Orphanage?", the digimon was confused. "What's that?"

"Ah...it's a place for children who have no parents. And since my parents are in jail, I have to live there, 'cause I am too young to live on my own.", Jun shrugged.

"Does Daisuke have to live there, too?"

"Well, maybe...when he gets better...I really don't know..."

The girl noticed how uncomfortable the others looked, and quickly changed the topic. "Well, but it's none of your business, we should better try to sneak you in now! Davis needs you, I think!"

Veemon agreed and Jun motioned him to climb in his backpack. "I can take one person of you with you....more isn't allowed. I think it's up to you who will go. Or I'll go alone, I mean, it's not given that Veemon can do something, so it'll probably be like a normal visit..."

"Ken should go.", Tai suggested. "He's Daisuke's best friend."

The blue haired boy looked at the others and saw just agreement in their faces, then he nodded. "Okay."

  


_Voices calling for you  
in the dark depths of your mind  
following you everywhere  
Memories haunting you  
making you cry  
closing your eyes  
not wanting to hear it  
not wanting to see it  
but it doesn't stop_

_it never will...._

  


Hospitals. Jun didn't like them. No, she didn't like them at all. She had always been very healthy and had never been in there, as far as she remembered. The girl hated the smell of the rooms, the smell of sickness and death, and she hated the people there: sick people who looked at you with this empty gaze. Maybe it was just because she was feeling depressed; maybe there were nice things at a hospital, but she definitely couldn't see them.

She walked through the hallway, followed by a silent Ken. Veemon was moving in her backpack. Poor Digimon. They all trusted him to get through to Davis, but what if he didn't? What if Davis stayed like that? Forever?  
She had been told to keep hope. She had been told to trust her brother. But every time Jun looked into his eyes, she found it extremely difficult to do so.

With a soft 'click' the door opened and revealed the gloomy room in which Daisuke had spent his time since the incident. _Incident_...what a cold, cruel word to describe what had happened...

"Hello Davis.", Jun greeted him, like she did it every time. "I brought you a friend." She motioned Ken to close the door and put down her backpack. Veemon hopped out of it and walked towards the bed, eyes locked on the fragile boy.

"Hiya, buddy! It's me, Veemon!", he looked up to his friend, smiling, but his face fell when he saw into Daisuke's eyes. The small digimon had known his partner for such a long time, and there had always been one significant thing about his friend: he had this special sparkle in his eyes which would never get lost. But now his eyes were dull and lifeless, still brown as they always had been, but, well, dead....

He noticed the pale face, the skinny body and the bandage wrapped around his chest. Numerous bruises covered his whole body. Tears welled up in Veemon's eyes and he wanted nothing more than to cry. No! He had to be strong! He had to help his friend!

"Ya know, they went to the digital world and searched for me.", he started to explain. "Ken, Hikari, Miyako and all the others, even Tai and Matt! It wasn't nice of you to send me there, I could have helped you! I wanted to help you! I know you did it because you were afraid, but...Davis, won't you speak to me?"

His partner didn't even look at him, and Veemon sighed, turning back towards Jun. "Why is he like that?"

"Apathetic?", Jun shrugged. "Withdrawn? It's kind of a try to escape; when something too terrible happens, too terrible to bear, the mind just shuts down and tries to hide, because it doesn't want to face the memories. Maybe Davis is hiding because he doesn't want to live with the fact that his father hated and stabbed him." She looked out of the window and added as an afterthought: "Or that's what the doctors are saying."

"What do you mean with that?" Ken wanted to know.

"You see...I personally think that that's only half of the reasons. Perhaps he's afraid of something....I really can't tell. He won't answer to me when I ask."

_let me in peace...  
let me fly away...  
let me escape..._

"He has to answer!", Veemon suddenly shouted, determined. "I will bring him back! He has to come back! And he will! He was always strong, stronger than the rest of us, he can manage this, too.", the digimon turned around and took the hand of his partner. "Do you hear that? I know that you can do it! I know that you are stronger than that! You can come back, to me and to your friends, and you can live again..."

**To be continued...**

* * *

Yeah, and you probably all want to kill me right now, because I'm leaving you like that -.- I can't change it, I had to stop somewhere. And I won't make any promises like 'I'll try to write faster', because I know for sure that I won't be able to keep them. I'm going to an exchange, I have orchestra practise and I have to study a lot for school. However, I **can** promise that I **will** continue this!

**Settiai** - I hope you don't mind that I didn't sent you this chapter. Ice is a good friend of me, and she's really a great help, being an excellent author. And my mails never reach you...

**Firecat** - Do you mean 'Würzburg'? Funny that you English people can't spell/pronounce the names of German cities. No, I have never been there. I live in the south, near to Bavaria and Munich. And no, we don't wear dirndls all the time and drink beer^^ (I deal with such prejudices so often, it's not even funny anymore!)

Hope I didn't leave you sobbing again...I know that it's sad, but child abuse isn't a nice thing and the way of recovery is long. And don't forget to review! I love to hear from you, and feedback is the only payment of a writer^^  



	5. But maybe you can learn to live with the...

**25.11.2002: I uploaded this chapter again, now finally the corrected version. Thanks to Ice!**

Yeah, and I know that lazy me takes eternities to write new chapters. Sorry, people! I just can't seem to change it...Well, but finally we have a little bit process in the story, seems that things are getting better...although the story isn't over yet, there's still a long way to go! 

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

**Part Five: But maybe you can learn to live with them... **

"Why are people that bad?" Kari asked, while looking out of the window of her room. Gatomon was leaning against the wall and watching her sad partner. Kari's gaze was sent outwards, over the roofs of the buildings, and in her eyes was a distant look.  


"How can anyone hurt another person like that?"

The cat-digimon just shook her head. "I don't know. It's the same with evil digimon - you never know, never understand, why they are acting how they're acting."

The girl sighed. "It's always the same question, running through my mind and soul. And then I always see his scared face, how he backs away from me and tries to hide because my brother wanted to touch his shoulder. Taichi was his idol, and now he's afraid of him!"  


A situation which her brother didn't take very well, she had to admit. The older boy had been deeply shocked by it and did not speak a single word on the way home.

"He will recover," Gatomon tried to assure her friend.

"Will he? I don't know. Even Veemon couldn't get through him. He's been in the hospital with Davis since yesterday, and still no sign of improvement! What else is there what we can do?" A tear glittered in her left eye and she rested her head on the cool glass of the window. Outside the sun was shining.  


"The weather is so great and nobody of us can enjoy it....," Kari whispered and closed her eyes.

Why? Why? Why?

She couldn't find an answer, and like always, she felt anger dwelling in her heart, anger and a deep hatred against the man who caused all this sorrow. Kari had talked with her friends about it, and she had talked with Jun. But no matter what the others said - it didn't help against the burning hatred in her mind. And since the others felt - deep inside - the same, their words didn't help that much.

But she shouldn't hate! Instead she should be helping her friend, helping him, the victim of all this! But the question was....how? Nobody could get through him, nobody could bring him to talk.   


Their only chance was Veemon, the small digimon, the only friend who might be able to get Daisuke Motomiya back.

_And I? I am his friend, but I can't do anything. God, I feel so helpless! It's so frustrating!! I want to do something, I want to hug him, want to bear some of his pain, but there's not the slightest chance to do so...I hate it!_

"You shouldn't do that," Gatomon suddenly said, interrupting her train of thoughts.

"What?" Confused, Hikari turned around, only to see that the cat pointed towards her hands. When the girl looked down at them, she realized that she had balled them to fists - so hard that the nails were digging into her flesh. A small drop of blood was trickling down her wrist.

"Oh. That." She opened her cramped fingers and moved them. It always happened unconsciously when she was thinking. As if her body wanted to let some of the anger out.

"I can't stop it", she admitted and stared on the small blood marks.

"It doesn't help anyone when you hurt yourself." 

"It doesn't help anyone when I just sit here and do nothing," Hikari snapped.

"True, but at least you won't be injured then," Gatomon pointed out. "Imagine Daisuke comes back and wants to rely on his friends and then sees that you've hurt yourself - how will he feel? Can you support him then?"

She said nothing, just turned to the window again and stared at the city. The sky was blue, and a few green trees were colouring the grey scene of the buildings. It actually looked nice - when you had nothing to worry about. People were walking on the streets and not far away she could see children playing football. That immediately reminded her of Daisuke and his love for everything which had to do with the black and white ball.

_I wonder if he will ever play football again?  
_

_I remember the time when he frequently got detentions because he was playing in the hallways of the school - he always managed to break a window or, even worse, to hit an innocent teacher._

She could see it clearly, the children were laughing wildly. Hikari stared at them and just wished that she could laugh like them, without worries. Because that would mean that nothing had happened if she could laugh like that. That would mean that Daisuke's father had never touched his son. That Daisuke was as carefree as he used to be. That he still played football and talked faster than his brain thought.  
But unfortunately, our wishes never come true. And it's the hard reality we have to face. There's no other possibility.

_Even if the reality might break us... _

_

* * *

_

He stood in the sunlight, wind blowing and tugging at the end of his clothes. It was warm, but not hot, just so that one could feel comfortable. The boy looked around and smiled. He knew this place, knew it very well.  


Behind him a small creature came nearer, with blue skin and big round eyes. It appeared to know the boy, because it greeted it with a friendly shout. "Heya Davis! How's it?"  


The boy turned around, facing the small thing with big, brown eyes. "Well...," he paused, obviously at a loss of words. 

_Take it away it's not true it's just a memory I don't want to see it don't want to be betrayed again...._

"The weather is nice, huh?" The creature plopped down on the ground besides him and stretched its face in the sun. 

"Yeah, guess it is," he replied. "It's beautiful."

They both stared at the landscape, at the green grass and the trees, the wind howling in the trees and the yellow sun above them.

_It isn't beautiful, I don't know what you are talking about, I don't want to see it...it's not real, I am elsewhere, I am in the hospital, I am stuck there...._

"And...it's just a memory. A dream," the boy continued sadly.

The blue creature stared up at him. "But we can turn it into reality."

They looked at each other, and the gaze of him softened. "Davis, I know that it's hard. But if you and I, if we hold together, we can manage it. You just...you just can't give up.

_*"Do you hear that? I know that you can do it! I know that you are stronger than that!"*_

_I want it....damn, and how I want it...I just want to be able to laugh again, but it hurts...._

"I don't think that you are right," he replied sternly and looked away.

"How can you believe that if you haven't even tried?"

_*"You can come back, to me and to your friends, and you can live again..."*_

_Living...again?_

"It's your mind, and it's your will. If both are strong enough, you will be able to laugh again. It will be hard, and you will have to cry many hours, but I am sure that you can let it happen. But if you turn back, if you hide in a corner, you never face the actual problem - you are just running away! And running away never helps, I hope you know that. It's inside you, and it's eating you until you finally fight against it, until you face your inner demons, your fears and your memories."

_Laughing...again?_

"I trust you to do this, Davis. You are special. You never give up. That's why I admire you. That's why I love being your friend. There's always hope, always a spirit. You are a fighter, so fight! It's the only thing you can do, the only thing which is left, do you understand? Fight to come back to us, fight to regain your smile, fight to live a normal life again, with your sister, with your friends and with me..."

_Fighting?_

"I can't fight," he simply said. "I just can't."

"Why not?"

"Because every time I try, I'm frozen. I hear the screams and I see the memories. And it scares me. And I don't want to see it. I want it to go away. I want to hide and run until I don't remember anything. Because I know that there are the bad images which are haunting me. As soon as I fight, I will have to wake up and I will have to face them. I don't want to."

"Why?"

"I'm scared."

"But isn't it worth it?"

"What?"

"Living. Isn't it worth it to be afraid? Isn't it worth it to fight? Only to be able to feel the sunshine, the real sunshine, on your face again? To be able to play with your friends? To be able to talk with them, to share laughter and to share pain? To be able to visit the Digital World? To be able to go to school and meet all your friends there? If that's not worth fighting, I don't know what else."

"I think my fear is too great."

The grass under his feet moved in the warm wind, and he looked down on the green plants, smiling a bit. There were a few, small flowers, thrown into the greenness of the grass, colourful spots on the ground. One was growing right beside his right foot, a small flower with white and reddish leafs. It trembled slightly in the wind. He looked down on it, admiring the small thing.

"Davis?"

"Yes?"

"You know that it's just a dream."

"...." His smile fell and he stepped away from the flower, carefully avoiding to step on it. "Yes, I know it."

"You can't stay here."

"If I never wake up...I can stay", his voice was determined and steady, but he didn't look into the eyes of his small friend.

"And it's really what you want to do?"

_I just want to fly away and forget everything...._  
Davis didn't reply, just walked away towards the sinking sun.  
_But I also want to....live...._

_

* * *

_

  
"You know, it's pretty boring, sitting here on my own," Veemon told the silent boy and sighed. He was sitting on a chair in the hospital room, for what seemed about hours, and still no sign of life in the motionless body of his friend. It was getting on his nerves, and it made him sad. Wasn't there anything he could do?

The digimon had stayed over the whole night, had talked, had tried to hug his partner, but whatever he did, it seemed to be wrong. Physical contact was impossible, so the only chance left was his voice - and Veemon had never been a good talker. Now he could understand the haunted look in Jun's eyes. 

"The most annoying thing is that I can't understand why you won't talk," he continued. "They explained it to me, but I don't understand it. Withdrawn? Is it because you are afraid? But it will only make it worse, won't it? If you don't have anyone to rely on, your fear will eat you up! It will destroy you!"

He sighed. "But then again, I'm no one to talk. I haven't suffered through this ordeal, I don't know how it feels. I can't even imagine it!"

He gulped and watched his friend. Davis was curling up in the corner of his bed, staring out of the window with wide-opened, empty brown eyes. The white covers had fallen to the ground.   


Daisuke's face was pale and huge black circles were under his eyes. The boy barely slept at night, which worried everybody. He just stayed awake and stared. Stared without even moving a muscle.

A thick bandage was wrapped around his upper body, remembering everybody what his father did to him. But Davis never complained. He didn't even wince when the nurse changed the bandage, although it was always a difficult procedure, because he didn't want to be touched and tried to crawl away everytime a nurse entered.

Feeding him was another problem. Veemon had been able to watch the procedure of breakfast this morning(hidden behind the curtains), and he had to admit, procedure was really the correct word. It was like feeding a baby; the nurse would take a spoon and shove it into his mouth until Davis gulped it down. They never managed more than a few mouthfuls. If it continued like that, the boy would starve to death.

_And that would be a great death, wouldn't it?_

It was even worse when one remembered what a happy eater Daisuke had been. They had shared many meals, late in the evening in front of the TV, had stuffed Chips into theirs mouths while watching soccer games, playing video games or generally just annoying Jun by keeping the remote control and not letting her watch one of her stupid love movies.  


Speaking of Jun, the girl seriously looked like hell. Veemon knew her for a long time now and had realised that she was indeed caring for her little brother, although she didn't show it. Now the events were putting her down; she was blaming herself for what had happened, and the loss of both parents was another stress factor. Every time when he saw her she had big black rings under her eyes and they had lost the typical, mischievous sparkle which used to glint in them. Daisuke was her only Family member left - if he died, she wouldn't survive it.  


There was also the trouble with the police and the court, the case against her father and all the stuff...too much things for an 18-year-old girl. At least she was old enough that she didn't have to live with her parents anymore; nonetheless there was still the question what to do with Davis when he recovered.  


If he ever recovered.  


Which Veemon was seriously doubting right now.

_I can't give up hope. I must try it again. He needs me._

The small creature crawled on the bed. He could see that Davis watched him out of the corner of his eye. Then his gaze fixed on a point in the room. Veemon looked into the direction, but couldn't see anything extraordinary. Davis was staring again.  


He always wondered what the boy was seeing in moments like this. Was he actually watching the wall or was his mind elsewhere? Wasn't it boring after a while just to sit and, well, stare?

"Ya know, just looking won't help you," he started again. Nope. Nothing. Not even the twitching of an a muscle. "You are making it difficult, are you?" Veemon sighed.

On the outside the sun was shining. He could see a huge tree only a few meters away from the window. Green leafs moved slowly in the wind, with little sparrows sitting on small branches, chirping their monotone melody. It seemed so...unreal. As if he wasn't sitting here. As if he was just dreaming and this person in the bed wasn't *his* Davis, was a totally different person...but Veemon knew very well that this was the hard reality and that the sentence 'I wish that nothing of this had happened' didn't help at all.

The door opened slowly. He didn't turn around, just heard the soft clacking of the lock, and then footsteps of someone entering.   


"Hello," came the soft greeting.  


"Hello Jun," Veemon replied, still not bothering to turn around. His gaze was fixed on the boy who was fully ignoring his two visitors.  


"Any improvement?" She walked towards the bed and knew at once that there *hadn't* been an improvement - Davis was as apathetic as always. Despair sank over the girl, and she couldn't shake the feeling away. What else was she supposed to do? What else could she do? She just wanted to help her brother, wanted to ease his pain....wanted to have him back!

"No improvement," the digimon shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Jun placed a hand on his shoulders, merely because touching Davis was still a great issue. It hurt to see your brother back away from your touch.

"Maybe. But that doesn't change the situation, does it?"

"No. Unfortunately not." Jun sighed. "Maybe he just...needs his time," she suggested warily. Both knew what a lame excuse it was. But both of them nodded.   


It was their last hope.

* * *

"TK? Do you want to eat something?" His brother shouted from the kitchen.

Takeru Takahashi, sitting in the living room of the Ishida residence, just shook his head. "No, thanks."  


He looked down on his hands. Today was the day Matt and TK usually spent together. Normally it was great, they would talk a lot and enjoy their free time. It was so rare that TK saw his brother. But today...he couldn't feel happy at all. The same with Matt.

"TK, starving to death won't help him," Matt stated, worried.

"I know. But I'm not hungry."

The older boy hesitated for a moment, and then plopped down on the sofa. "It's unimaginable, huh?" he said softly, staring out of the window.

TK continued staring on his hands. "Yeah."

"That something like that happened to a person we all liked and called friend - and we didn't notice it!" continued Matt, anger and pain visible in his eyes.

"That's one of the worst parts - that we didn't notice it," TK sighed and covered his eyes. "I know that everybody feels the same, I know that Davis didn't want us to know it and I know that he was a very good actor, but I'm still not feeling better. And Matt....even Veemon couldn't help him. His state hasn't changed a single bit, although Veemon was sitting with him the whole night! It's so frustrating - whatever we do, it doesn't seem to help!"

Matt watched the despaired face of his brother. When he looked at the younger boy, he always thought of how Jun must feeling - knowing that it was one's own father who destroyed one's brother. He shuddered when he tried to imagine this - TK at the hospital, his parents in a prison and he himself living in an orphanage. Visiting TK everyday, talking with him only to experience that he didn't reply, didn't want to be touched and suffered...suffered so much that it was unbelievable.

He was glad. Glad that this hadn't happened to his family, but at the same moment he felt guilty. Guilty that he was glad about it...it was crazy, evil, and...he didn't know what to do, what to think, what to feel.

"And I always thought that Davis was the strongest of us...." TK's voice trailed off.

"He probably was. Has been for a long time. But not even the strongest can remain strong forever. In the end, he broke."

His voice was barely above a whisper when TK looked at his brother. "Do you think that other people face the exactly same problem? Right now? Are there any other people who feel as helpless as we do? Are there other kids who have to go through....this?"

"Certainly." It hurt to say this. Certainly. Certainly there were kids who suffered like Davis; certainly there were other parents who hit their children; certainly there were other friends, sisters, brothers, and relatives who waited, and waited, and waited, hoping that this kid might regain its soul. 

Like Jun did. Like TK did. Like he did.  


Why was the world that cruel?  


Where was the so-called God, the almighty, who loved all his children?  


If he loved them, why didn't he help Davis?  


Matt snorted. Probably because there was none.

Suddenly TK stood up. He walked to the radio and switched it on. Soft music filled the room.  
"We won't give up," he whispered. determined, an bitter glint in his blue eyes.

* * *

_He says that I am worthless_

He knew that he was there. He was always there. In this room. In this bed. He could see himself. Could see himself sitting in this bed. Sometimes persons entered. And left. Sometimes people did things with him. He didn't really feel it. It was weird. And all the things around him seemed to be...unimportant. He could sit there for hours. And stare. He wouldn't mind.  
Sometimes he noticed particular things. Then he heard what they were saying. Could understand the sentences. Could understand what they were meaning. It took time, but he could do it.

_He hates me_

Talking was...unimportant, too. He didn't need it. To be honest, he was a little bit afraid of it. Talking, that meant the people in his room would answer him. And he would listen. Then the memories would come back. He didn't want to have them back. They were bad. Bad memories. They made him cry. They frightened him. They hurt.

_He hits me_

Voices kept nagging him. Dreams kept following him. And he couldn't help but notice that a new person was in his room. No, not a person. Something else. It was blue  


At first he had thought that it was a doll. But it had started talking. It had moved. So it couldn't be a doll. What else?

_He says I'm weak_

He listened. Always. Because sometimes memories came with these words. Memories and dreams. Pleasant dreams. Not bad ones. When the blue thing was there, he felt safer. And he felt a little bit like talking. Like opening his mouth and moving his tongue and...speak. Words. Syllabi. Sounds.   
But whatever he tried, his mouth wouldn't open, even if he wanted to. It was closed. Closed for always. Not?  


Confusing thoughts, confusing dreams...and then the blue thing, sitting on his bed and looking at him with big, hopeful eyes. Telling him stories. Telling him important things. It helped him. It brought beautiful dreams.

_"I trust you to do this, Davis. You are special. You never give up. That's why I admire you. That's why I love being your friend. There's always hope, always a spirit. You are a fighter, so fight! It's the only thing you can do, the only thing which is left, do you understand? Fight to come back to us, fight to regain your smile, fight to live a normal life again, with your sister, with your friends and with me..."_

It said nice things, the little blue things. To him. To Davis. Was he Davis? Was Davis him? He didn't know. He had forgotten it. Somehow, somewhere. It didn't matter, did it?

  
The words touched something inside him. Maybe the Davis-part of him. Yeah, maybe there was a Davis part inside of him, who knew the creature. Maybe this Davis could speak. Maybe he could....

_But I am afraid, I don't want to wake up, because then...then...then I have to face the memories, and I can't do that! I will break down, I will hurt, I will...  
_

_And then I want to speak, want to...to...live....to...do...something....._

_Broken Wings  
Feathers lying on the ground  
Clouds darkening the sky_

_Crying bloody tears  
coloring the ground in a deep shade of red  
Pictures haunting your mind  
White feathers in the red pool of blood  
Sunrays breaking through the clouds  
Birds chirping softly in the trees  
Straightening his wings  
And trying to fly_

_  
_

_Failing  
and landing on the ground again  
But never giving up  
Never stopping  
Trying to learn  
_

_Trying to live with them___ _

* * *

_

**Later:**

Jun had fallen asleep on the covers. Head in her arms, she was snoring softly, Veemon beside her. He didn't move, for he didn't want to wake her up. The girl had a huge lack of sleep, and she needed her rest. He himself didn't feel tired at all.   


The silence in the room was overwhelming. As the minutes passed, he felt like screaming and storming out of the room. It was just....so unused. It was never silent, there was always someone who talked, or there was the radio, or noises came from outside through the open window or there were the sounds of a video game...but all he could hear in this hospital room was an occasional chirp of the sparrows.

Veemon began to hum softly, not being able to bear the silence any longer. And then he started talking. Again.  


"I think it's pretty mean of you...just going away and leaving the rest of us stuck in this place", as always, there wasn't a reply, not even the smallest reaction. "I said it before, you were never the person to run away. You never left the people who needed you. Now you need us to help you, so why won't you let us? We can't help you if you won't talk. We can't do anything, and that's really frustrating. It's the same when you play football and you can only watch how the others score a goal, because you are too far away to reach them in time and to prevent it. It makes you angry, and it makes you sad." 

The digimon took a deep breath. "And that's exactly what I am feeling right now. You are in my reach, you are in front of me, but I can't help you because your mind is too far away - I am not able to be there in time. I just see your body, can talk with you and hope that some of my words reach the person who used to be my friend."

He was merely talking with himself now, not even looking at the boy, but staring out of the window. The sparrows were still in the tree. A small smile crept on his lips. "I remember the times when everything was okay. When you and I used to do everything together. When you came and found me in the Digital World, where I met you for the first time. We were friends immediately, weren't we? We shared everything. And we were a good team in fighting; you and your spirit which let me digivolve. Hell, do you remember the numerous nights in which we stayed up late only to eat candy and in the morning we were both sick?" He laughed slightly.

If he had turned his head, he would have seen the quick movement of Davis's eyes, a look of....recognition in them. But Veemon just looked out of the window and continued to talk to himself.  


"It felt so terrible, but it wasn't that bad, because we both were sick and so we could stay together. Even while vomiting in the toilet. And when the thing with your father started....things got worse, but we still had our bright moments which we enjoyed.You didn't allow me to hurt him, and all I could do was watching while he hurt you and made you cry. It hurt me. But after it, you'd come to me for support. Until *it* happened, until you started believing him."

Veemon hesitated. Sunrays were falling into the room, leaving yellow golden marks on the ground. "Believing him was the worst part of it; you believed him when he told you that you were worthless. And you thought that you wouldn't....earn living. And that the beatings were the correct punishment. But it wasn't. It never is, Davis. Hurting another person is never right, believe me."

"I don't know why you started sending me away. I don't understand it. And to be honest, I don't *want* to understand it. What I want is you. What I want is that you trust me. Me and your friends. Your sister. We miss you. Although your life has been the living hell over the past months, it will get better now. It's over, your father is arrested and will never hurt you again. You can live, Davis! You can go out with your friends, you can...play football, you can do so many things! Don't give up your life, because it has just begun...." 

The blue creature sniffed. "I'm sounding pretty pathetic, aren't I?" He turned towards the boy. "As if it helped, the talking..."

And then he blinked. There was something else in the eyes of his friend. Something which hadn't been there before. Veemon had so gotten used to the dull, lifeless brown eyes that he couldn't figure out what it was - but then it hit him. There was....something....inside. Call it soul, could it spirit, but it was definitely there. A small glint of life. A small piece of the old Daisuke.

"Davis?" He asked hopefully, almost dreading the answer.

The boy tilted his head. Slowly and with a croaking voice the words came out of his mouth.  


"The birds are singing." He gazed at Veemon and then at the sparrows. A look of confusion and pain crossed his face.  


"Davis..." Veemon whispered, both shocked and happy. "You talked..." It was so good to hear his voice again. To hear the familiar voice he loved and admired, to see these eyes and actually seeing Daisuke Motomiya, not any...empty window. Okay, he looked frightened and lost, but he had talked, and that was at least a beginning - it meant that he had started fighting against it!  


The digimon wiped a tear away. "Welcome back."

Davis stared at him, confused, and then relieved. "Veemon?" The question, although unspoken, was clearly evident at the tone of his voice.  


"You are in the hospital," Veemon answered, patting his hand. For the first time in ages the boy didn't flinch. "They brought you here after....after he hurt you. You are safe now. They sent him to prison."

His eyes clouded as he remembered the events. "Oh." Then his gaze shifted towards the sleeping form of Jun. His fingers slowly touched her tired face.  


"She was here for the whole time," Veemon told him softly. "She worried herself sick about you."

Davis didn't reply, just tilted his head again and stared at the sparrows. Their chirping was getting louder, obviously they were fighting about something. "They are singing", he spoke, as if unused to using of his voice - well, he was.  


Veemon just smiled at him and plopped himself on the bed. "Yes," he replied and then they fell silent, again. The two looked out of the window, watching the sun go down until her last rays disappeared and the room sank into darkness.

Broken Wings  
were meant to fly  
you can never heal them

_  
but maybe you can learn to live with them_  


**To be continued....**

* * *

Yeah, it isn't over yet. I have some things planned for this maybe, so prepare for some more drama stuff *snickers* And again I have to repeat how incredibly sorry I am - I really take very long for my chapters. But you must understand: I'm playing in three orchestras now, I have school and projects, I'm giving extra lessons to a student and I always have my problems with English expressions...*sighs* I try to improve, but I really can't promise anything. Sorry.

~Kaeera  



	6. Sparrows in the sunlight

Wow, the next chapter comes relatively fast...fast for me, I know that there are writers who manage a new chapter every week, but I'm just not that quick^^ However, I hope you like this. I realised that this story develops to a monster-story; now that he's woken up, it *isn't* over, because my dear Dai-chan has to learn to deal with all this stuff....O.o I hope I managed it to write the emotions okay...it's pretty difficult to think like him. Argh. 

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

**Part Six: Sparrows in the sunlight **

  
Hmm.   


Sleeping.   


Sleeping was good.

Jun twitched her nose. It was itching, but she was too lazy to scratch it. She wanted to continue sleeping, wanted to return to the peaceful dreams she was having. But once she woke up, she found it incredibly difficult to fall asleep again, especially because voices were interrupting her peace. Someone in the room was talking.

Groggily the girl blinked, seeing only blurred images at first. Then her vision became clearer and out of the blurry view the silhouette of her brother crystallised. "Davis?", whispered Jun softly, carefully avoiding to frighten the younger boy.

The talking stopped and he moved his head towards her. Jun found herself looking into deep brown orbs, and found something in them which had been missing for days. _Her brother._

Daisuke was looking straight at her, uncertainty and fear evident in these chocolate brown eyes of his, but there was a soul behind these eyes and that was what counted!

"Davis..." she repeated, this time eyes wide with shock and - yeah, what? Relief? Joy? She didn't know it.

Daisuke looked at her, as if not knowing what to do. "H'lo," he then shyly said.

For Jun, it was the sweetest sound she ever heard. For days the room had been silent, never mind how much she talked, and she had nearly forgotten the sound of her brother's voice. Now he was there, looked at her, resembling the old Davis so much that she nearly started crying. A smile crept on her face. "Hello," she replied. "I missed you."

Her brother just tilted his head and stared at her, confused. Jun stretched her back and smiled at him. 

"Well, you were kinda away over the last days. Where did you stay?"  


Obviously she had asked the wrong questions, because his eyes darkened at the mention of the past days. He looked to the window with a far away expression on his pale face. She followed his gaze and could see a few sparrows in the tree outside.

Slowly the girl shook her head and sent a pleading glance at Veemon. "I'm going to look for a doctor, okay, Davis? I had to promise the staff to notify them as soon as your state changes...I won't be away for long, okay? Just...wait?"

He nodded, and she hurried out of the room. Jun knew that there was always a nurse behind the desk in the front hall. And right, an elderly woman was working on some papers.

"Excuse me", the tall girl spoke breathlessly, "Could you do me a favour, please?"

She looked up and a look of sympathy crossed her face when she recognised the girl who never went away from her brother's side over the last days. The whole staff had felt pity for the two siblings, and anger against parents who could let this happen - like everyone did who was confronted with events like these ones.

"Of course, my dear," she replied, smiling slightly, "What do you need?"

"Could you please inform our doctor that my brother - Davis - started speaking again? He told me to tell him as soon as something differently happened..."

"I will call him over loudspeaker," the woman promised. "It's nice to hear that the little fellow has made some steps forward!"

"Yeah," a weak smile appeared on Jun's face, and suddenly she felt as if the weight of ages had been lifted of her shoulders. "It is. Thanks!"

She turned back and ran towards the hospital room she knew so well. The girl knew that her brother was far away from being okay, but at least it was a beginning, and she had the strong belief that they could do it if they stick together. Like Davis, Jun had a spirit which would never let her give up, and that made the Motomiya siblings so special.

********************

No doubt, he was in a hospital room. He was here, Veemon was here and Jun had been here as well...Daisuke felt strange, as if he just woke up of a long, long dream. And only slowly memories were coming back to his mind, images of past scenes coming in his head. The boy felt that he was hurt, felt the aching pain in his chest, but when he tried to remember what had happened, all he got was a blur. It had been bad, and he had been very frightened...

The fear was still in him, he could sense it. Daisuke felt so small and alone, and so weak...

He tried to remember, tried the best he could, but some part inside him didn't *want* to remember.  


Veemon patted him reassuringly on his hand. "I'm glad that you made the right choice, Davis," he smiled and watched him with big eyes. "I'm glad that you came back."

Daisuke wanted to speak, wanted to ask what happened, but his tongue seemed to be frozen. Something was very, very wrong. He tried it again, this time managing it to croak something which wasn't understandable at all. Veemon's eyes perked up, and he tilted his head. "What?"

"What....happened?" He finally managed to cough. God, why was it so difficult to speak? It didn't hurt, but it was like...like being mute. Something was trying to prevent him from speaking. But what?

"You don't remember?" The digimon's eyes became wide. 

Daisuke shook his head. "Just....images....pain...."

Veemon shifted uncomfortably around. What should he do? Tell his friend what really had happened? Wasn't it better if he forgot the whole ordeal? Then he could live in peace and wouldn't be blaming himself or something like that...and he wouldn't have to cry at night.   
"You were hurt...," he finally replied, choosing his words carefully.

"How?"

"Ehm..." Veemon looked away, unable to resist the gaze of his partner. Should he say it? On one hand, it would probably better not to say anything because he could live without all the problems then. But then, on the other hand, didn't Davis deserve the truth? And what if he remembered, one day? It would crash down on him and destroy the rest of his sanity. And could someone really be lucky with all the emotions and memories stored somewhere in his head? He needed to deal with it, needed to face it....the digimon sighed, realising that he really didn't have an option.

"You were stabbed," he whispered sadly.  


Daisuke's eyes grew wide and he stared at his digimon partner. "Who?" Was all he could get out.  


The look in Veemon's eyes was telling him enough, as suddenly faint memories popped up in his head. The digimon's eyes were dwelling with tears. "Your father."

_Your.  
Father.  
Stabbed.  
You._

And then the memories crashed down on him, causing the boy to gasp in horror. His father...his father screaming at him, beating him, trying to get him out of the cupboard - his only place in safety, in the darkness where nobody could get him - crying at his sister and finally grabbing the kitchen knife with this furious look in his eyes.

"Oh my god," stammered Davis and covered his eyes, feeling burning tears behind his eyelids. Every scene came back to haunt him with an intense clarity, the numerous times he had cried himself to sleep after he had received a beating, the shouts of his father, insulting him, making him flinch and the fear, this incredible fear, freezing him, destroying him.  


His shoulders shook as he tried to suppress the upcoming memories.

_He.  
Despised.  
You._

A concerned Veemon crawled on his lap, hugging his friend as tightly as he could. Tears were spilling down Daisuke's face as he remembered the incredible pain he had felt on this particular day...

He had backed against the wall, while his father was screaming at him, again. His gaze was fixed on the furious face of the older man, eyes wide open with fear. Daisuke's hands were trembling and all he wanted to do was to run away, but his legs wouldn't move. He was frozen. 

_"Are you afraid of me? Are you trying to run away?" _

_His father's face was a mask of hatred. He didn't resemble the man who had guided the boy throughout his childhood anymore. He was...a monster! Daisuke pressed himself against the wall, trying his best to suppress the sobs, because he knew that it would only get worse if he showed any fear. But his eyes were already watering, a single tear slipping down his cheek. His father grabbed him by the collar and started shouting at him. Suddenly a long, sharp piece of metal appeared in his hand. Daisuke's eyes widened when he recognised the big kitchen knife his mother usually used for cutting meat and onions. It was as long as his hand, no, even longer! He gasped._

_"Afraid? What? Because I am holding a knife? Are you frightened, son? You'd better be...Oh, backing away from your father? And crying...like always, huh? Can't you fight for once? You are weak, too weak, Daisuke..." An evil glint appeared in his father's eyes, and the boy immediately knew that he was in danger. Frantically he looked around, trying to find an escape, but there was none. His scream was dying even before it reached his lips...And his father approached him with the knife, the shining, metallic knife in his hand...._

_"You have to become stronger if you want to survive...the knife is nice, isn't it? It will be even nicer when it's covered...with your blood!"_

_The next movement was a blur to him. His father jumped forward and he felt a sudden pain in his stomach. His knees weren't supporting his weight any longer and he realised that he was falling to the ground, back still leaning against the wall. Daisuke's gaze wandered to his father and to the knife, noticing that the knife had changed its colour - it was red._

_At first he didn't understand what that meant. His brain worked only slowly, partly paralysed by fear, partly disturbed by the increasing pain in his stomach. But then the boy watched closely, saw the red drops falling to the ground, a thick, shimmering liquid. His hand moved to his stomach and came back covered with exactly the same, red liquid. Blood! _

_Unbelieving Davis stared at his father and then down on his body. There was a huge spot of redness, soaking through his shirt and dripping on the ground. Blood. His blood._

_"No...", he whispered, tears in his eyes. The pain was incredible, but the shock was even worse - the shock that his father had deliberately stabbed him!   
_

_His. Father._

_A soft chuckle interrupted the eerie silence, and then the knife shattered to the ground. Footsteps echoed through the apartment when his father left the house. Then Daisuke was alone. He slumped to the ground, lying in a pool of his own blood, still not believing what had just happened. Tears were streaming down his face while he clutched his stomach._

_He didn't want this to happen. Why? Why did he do this? Was it his mistake? Had he been that bad? Or why?....He started to become tired, his eyelids heavily dropping. Staying awake was too much effort._

_Going away....leaving everything behind me..._

_The darkness caught him in a welcoming embrace._

  
His fingers brushed over the bandage wrapped around his stomach. So it really had happened. He, Daisuke Motomiya, had been stabbed by his own father, because he didn't want him. Because he thought of him as worthless and weak. He was a victim of child abuse. 

It sounded so...strange to say that. Child abuse. It had happened for so long, and still he couldn't accept it. Didn't want to accept it. Wished that it had never happened, that maybe he had never been born....

The door opened and Jun entered again. "Hi," she greeted cheerfully and came to sit on his bed. "The doctor will be here soon. What did you two talk about?" Daisuke turned his head and the tearstained face of her brother told her enough. Immediately she was by his side and took the younger boy into a hug. "It will be okay", she whispered, patting his back. "I know that it's hard, but it will be okay. I promise you!"

He sniffed and looked up. "Where is....", he asked, unable to speak the name of the person who had destroyed his life.

"Father?" He flinched as Jun pronounced the word carefully. A look of anger crossed her face and she said with a certain satisfaction in her voice: 

"He's in jail. He was taken to court because of child abuse, and he won't see the daylight any time soon. Serves him right!"

"And Mom?"

"I don't know yet, she was taken to court, too, because she neglected us and indirectly helped him, but they didn't decide yet. Although it's kinda sure that the judges will take her custody away. She's not allowed to live with us again."

"But....where do we live then?" Daisuke held Veemon closer to his body.

"Well...currently I'm living at the orphanage. It's probably the place where we'll both stay until I have finished school and can earn enough money to afford an own apartment for us." She noticed the shocked look on his face when she mentioned the orphanage and smiled. "It's really not that bad there. Okay, I've only been there for a few days, but the people are nice, the food isn't that bad either and you have everything you need. I share my room with a really nice girl, which is kinda cool, because you can always chat in the night, like in a slumber party!"

"I don't want to go to an orphanage," he sniffed, "I want to have a home!"

Her heart ached when she heard his spoken words, expressing her very own feelings. But Jun continued smiling, trying to reassure her brother. "It won't be that bad, believe me. And you still have your friends! They will be there for you, no matter what!"

*********************

"Hey sis', where are the cookies?" Tai shouted, inspecting the kitchen.

"Dunno," was the grumpy reply. The boy sighed. In truth he didn't feel like eating cookies - more like going out and strangling a certain person. But the years as a leader of the digidestined had told him to have patience, although it was pretty difficult.

His thoughts trailed back to the conversation Yamato and he had held in the park, back then, on this warm, sunny day...He had felt so miserable and didn't want to talk, but in the end it had helped. Although he still felt guilty...the hell, Daisuke had been like a brother for him, like someone to teach to. He had been so full of life, and then they hadn't noticed when suddenly his spirit dampened. None of them. Taichi knew that the others were feeling exactly the same, and that it didn't help at all, but it was like always - he couldn't stop it.

The older boy sighed and took a glass with water. Why had life have to be that damn difficult? He glanced through the apartment, suddenly feeling very alone.

Hikari was in her room, the door closed. The girl lay on her bed, brown hair falling over the pillows, shimmering softly in the light. She couldn't concentrate, couldn't feel...normal. It was annoying her and....she wanted it to stop.

Gatomon was sleeping on her stomach. The cat-digimon hat curled herself together, claiming that too much worrying wouldn't help at all and that Kari should probably do something instead of sitting here and thinking. But it didn't matter how hard she tried, she didn't want to go to the hospital and see Daisuke...she was afraid. Afraid of his current state, afraid that she would only make things worse.

And she felt bad because of this. Like a coward. Hikari knew that *he* would have always visited her if it had been her...

The soft melody of 'Pachebel's Canon' interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up. It was her cellphone, lying on the table - she had received a sms. For a moment she closed her eyes, considering the idea of not getting up and reading the message, but in the end her sense of duty won and she groggily stood up, placing Gatomon on the blanket.

Her fingers brushed over the buttons and she opened the message. It was from Jun. Hikari frowned. What did Jun want?   


Maybe...maybe something had happened to Davis...maybe he became ill or he freaked or...  


Thoughts swirled through her head. One side of her didn't want to read the message because she feared the bad news, the other side nudged her forward, telling that she would never be calm again if she hadn't read it...and in the end, this side won. Hikari looked at the tiny screen.

_He talked with us! ~Jun_

Minutes of silence passed as Hikari blinked at the message, not getting the meaning at first. She immediately knew that the 'he' could only be one person, namely Daisuke...he talked?  


Davis had talked?

_And that meant..._

A small smile appeared on her lips. If he talked, then he was getting better! Then Veemon had actually managed it to get through him, and maybe her friend would be able to regain his old, cheerful self back! Hope began to grow in her heart, a hope she had nearly forgotten.

"Taichi!" she called. "I have great news for you!"

  
************

The former digimon kaizer stared at the screen. In disbelief. Only four words. Four. Words. But they meant so much...

_He talked with us._

He had never received an sms with more joy. Daisuke had finally regained his sense and spoken with his sister. Ken wasn't stupid, he knew that that didn't mean too much, but nonetheless it was an improvement, and he was happy about every even-so-small step. Wormmon was sitting on his lab, staring at the screen like himself, a glint of hope in his large eyes. 

"I knew that he would be strong enough," the digimon murmured relieved.

"The strongest of us all," Ken agreed, smiling slightly. "I guess it's time for a visit."

**************

Daisuke frowned at the tray. A plate with undefined grey and green things was on it as well as a glass with water. It didn't look very good.

"That, my dear brother, is your food!" Jun told him sweetly. "Your body isn't ready for solid food yet, so you get this....."

He slowly took a spoon of the food and made a disgusted face - but he ate it, and Jun inwardly sighed in relief. She had been afraid that her brother wouldn't eat, like the doctor had warned the girl.  


Her thoughts wandered back to the conversation she had had with the doctor after he had examined Davis. Very carefully the man had explained to her what Daisuke needed now, and how they could help him to start a normal life again.

_"Your brother will stay in the hospital for twelve more days, until his wounds are healed,"_ _the tall doctor had said, looking sympathetically through his glasses. "You don't have to worry about money - right now everything is paid by the account of your father. The police told me that there__ will be the trial, soon, but Daisuke doesn't have to go there, only you. However, Mrs.Seto, the social worker, will talk with you later about this."_

_Jun had just nodded, feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility she had to bear._

_"During the next days," the doc had continued, "Your brother has to go to our local psychiatrist where he will learn how to deal with this problems. I have to warn you that this was only the first step in a long, enduring procedure. Abused children are usually haunted by their fears, and it's extremely difficult to give them enough strength and self-consciousness to start a normal life again. Your brother will be very dependant on you and his friends, but especially on you, since he doesn't have any parents anymore and you're the closest family member. I'm aware that this is a great, a too great responsibility for a teenage girl, but you're not alone. Mrs. Seto is a very kind person, and you can always come to her and talk about your problems. It will be a hard time for everyone, and it won't be over in a few weeks - it'll probably take years, but I'm certain that you can manage it."_

And now, when she found herself in the hospital room again - her second home by now - and watched her silent brother, Jun realised that the doctor was very right. It had only been a small step and many more had to follow. Daisuke looked thin and fragile, as if he would start crying every moment, and the haunted look in his eyes hadn't quite disappeared. How long would it take for the psychical wounds to heal?

That brought her to another question: what was with her? What would she do? Would she go to school again, looking after Daisuke in her free time, while living in the orphanage? Or what else? The events had affected her as well, although not that bad - after all, their father had never hit Jun, no idea why. But nonetheless it wasn't the same....she didn't feel ready for it. They were alone now. Totally alone. And Daisuke was her responsibility....she had to take care of him...

Jun rubbed her temples, feeling very alone at this moment and far too young for the whole thing. The girl desperately wished to be young again, when her biggest problems had been that she hadn't done her homework or something like that. Not such...big stuff!

She closely watched how her brother ate, Veemon sitting on his lap. The room was silent, only the sparrows on the outside could be heard. Jun didn't know what to say. Everytime she looked at Davis, he avoided her gaze, as if he was hiding something, and it troubled her. She wanted to talk with him, wanted to hug him while he cried - but he didn't cry. Just a few strangled sobs, but that was all.

Maybe he just needed time. Yeah. Maybe.

*****************

The food was horrible. Or was it just horrible because he wasn't hungry? Daisuke didn't know. Every spoon with the slimy stuff took him much effort to eat. But Jun wanted him to eat, so he did it. He didn't want her to feel bad. No. Not at all.

He himself was feeling....what? He didn't know. His chest hurt, his head hurt, and he felt very exhausted, but that wasn't all. He felt....lifeless. Worthless. Weak. Why? He couldn't find an answer. He just wanted to curl together and wanted it to stop, but he knew that it wasn't possible.

Pounding headache. And the doctor who had visited him. Davis hadn't admitted it, but he had been afraid. Of the doctor. Immediately the image of his father had popped into his head, screaming at him, lunging at him, insulting him. He had known that this wasn't his father, hell, he wasn't that stupid, but the boy hadn't been able to stop the trembling of his body.

_I'm so screwed up..._

He wanted to sleep. He didn't want to face all this. He didn't want to talk with the psychiatrist. He didn't want to eat this food just to stay alive. And he didn't want to live a life in an orphanage. He had parents, after all, parents who....didn't care about him. Darn.

His gaze wandered to Veemon who was currently nibbling a cookie. Good ol'Veemon, he had stayed the same - only he, only Daisuke had changed. He didn't want to feel like that! He wanted to be like before...before...before what? The truth is, Davis didn't really know when he had changed, when his cheerful behaviour became an act, a masquerade. Five months? Six? Or seven? There was no exact point of time, it had changed gradually. With every beating he had been more depressed, and more determined not to show it. Inside he had felt torn and alone, while he had continued to laugh on the outside. Scared.

Davis laid the spoon back on the plate, suddenly feeling sick. He was so confused and, well, helpless...it annoyed him. What if the others saw him like that? His friends? Would they despise him because he wasn't the strong Daisuke anymore? Would they feel pity for him? Anything but that! Daisuke hated pity, especially when he himself was in the center of it. No pity. Please not.

Forcefully he shoved the tablet away and looked outside the window, again. He didn't want to speak. 

**To be continued...**

* * *

**A.I.** - Wow, seems that you really like this story *blushes* Your review let me feel great! Thanks a lot!

**Skywolf** - *lol* I'm planning to involve the DD's more in the next chapter(s). They shall meet Daisuke in the hospitals, and of course everybody shows different reactions. Any ideas?? *g*

Next chapter won't be out soon, I guess. Like always...*sighs* I'm such a terribly slow writer!


	7. White Feathers

Next chapter! I have you've all enjoyed your holidays! I, certainly, did, although I had to do lots of school work, preparing a book report, writing essays and so on. School follows me everywhere :P. Well, okay, I won't keep you longer from reading the next chapter since you're probably anxious to know what happens next. 

By the way, I always seem to forget Veemon when I write...I'm really sorry for that. I think he appears for one line in this chapter, and that's really not much! It's just that I find it so hard to write him and I like it more to concentrate on Jun and Davis, since they are my favourite characters. *sighs* I try to improve and remember him, but I can't promise anything.... 

**A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS!** *g* Actually I wanted this chapter to be out on christmas, but it's a bit late for that...so it will be a welcoming chapter for the new year! Enjoy! (This chapter is extra long...I think.) 

**Important Note**: I'm not a doctor. I don't know if the progress Daisuke makes is correct, nor do I know if Dr Katashi does the right thing. It's just my imagination; I've read quite some stuff about this topic, but the healing process is never described very detailed, so I'm sorry if I offend someone with it. It wasn't my intention. 

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

**Chapter Seven: White Feathers **

  
"I would really prefer it if you would speak to me instead of staring out of the window," the woman spoke softly, looking at the boy who avoided her gaze successfully. 

Dr. Katashi, the psychologist, sat in front of her new 'case', as the authorities liked to put it, and absorbed every detail she could gather. The pale face of the young boy and the worn out expression on his young features, as if some ghost was haunting him. The ducked way of sitting, as if trying to back away. And the eyes, never meeting hers, but shifting around, anxious and full of fear.

Daisuke himself didn't feel comfortable. He hadn't like the idea of consulting, and even when Jun had talked with him, he had disagreed. But unfortunately his opinion didn't count, and so he found himself in the bright room with the warmly colored walls and the colorful paintings on it. He had to admit that it didn't resemble a hospital room, more a...a living room in a normal household. And he realised that this was intentional, a try to give the patients a little bit of security.  


However, he didn't feel secure at all. Daisuke didn't want to talk about his problems, mainly because he feared the memories which would come to the surface during this process. He just wanted to go back to his room and to curl together in his bed.   


So he kept silent, ignoring the attempts of the doctor, trying to start a conversation.

"It might be helpful right now to keep your mouth shut," she continued calmly, "But you soon will notice that you can't go on like that. It will kill you."

He grabbed the chair harder and stared on the ground. _Don't believe her,_ a tiny voice in his head whispered, _She will make you talk and then she will turn away. It will hurt you - again!_

"Daisuke, you need help. The things you had to endure are not easy to deal with, and they are certainly not there for be dealt with alone. I know what happened to you. I've read your files. I've talked with your sister. And now it's my job to talk with you - to make sure that you can find a way to deal with this, because right now, you aren't dealing with it - you're running away. And it's my job make sure that you fully understand that none of this is your fault."  


She saw him flinch and immediately knew that she had touched a soft spot. Tamara Katashi sighed. It was always the same. Sixty percent of abused children believed that it was their fault, that they were weak, and it had been correct to punish them. Obviously Daisuke Motomiya belonged to this category.

Daisuke pretended not to listen and fixed his gaze on a picture on the wall, showing some flowers. Thoughts were whirling through his mind, more thoughts than he wanted to hear, but the flow didn't stop. He just wished that he could cover his ears with something, so that the soft and gentle voice of the woman couldn't come to his brain.

_I don't want to talk, b'cause when I talk it'll get worse and I don't want...  
_

_They say it so easily...they say I hafta face my memories. I don't want these memories. Can't I live without them? Please...  
_

_If I have to deal with them, I fear I will break..._

"You don't understand," he finally croaked out, staring with dull, brown eyes at the doctor.

"Oh yes, I do," She softly replied. "You may think that nobody can understand you, but that's not true. I think your sister understands you very well, and your friends will know - if you speak with them. You are not alone in this, Davis. You are not alone."

He wanted to believe her. He really did. But this nagging voice inside his mind wouldn't let him; would always tell him nasty things. How could he trust anybody? How could he trust anybody when the person he had trusted the most - had loved - had betrayed him that cruelly? 

"No," he shook his head, still not looking up. 

Dr.Katashi sighed softly. "Alright." Then she stood up and walked towards a small desk in the corner of the room. Many sheets of paper and books were piled on it, resembling more a dustbin than anything else. She dug through the pile and finally produced a few pencils and a white sheet of paper. Walking back to Daisuke, she placed the items on the table in front of him and sat down on her chair.

Daisuke peered curiously at the wooden pencils, finding this whole ordeal really odd. The first time since this lesson had started he looked openly at the woman. She smiled at him and pointed towards the pencils. "If you don't want to talk....I want you to draw."

Confused he glanced at the pencils, frowning. "Can't draw," he then finally said, somewhat hesitatntly. "Don't want to."

"Well, what is it now, can't you draw or are you just not in the mood for it?" The doctor asked smiling. Carefully she took one pencil - a green one - and drew a short line with it. "I certainly don't expect any artistic creations out of you." She started to explain. "But drawing is good for your soul and your heart. You don't have to tell me anything, you just let the pencils fly over the paper and paint whatever comes into your mind."

Daisuke shook his head, huddling together in his chair.

"Won't even give it a try?" Dr.Katashi folded her hands and tilted her head. "It can't hurt, and you haven't tried it before - it might help, and if not, nothing's lost, or?"

He stared at her, wondering where this woman took the patience from and finally grabbed for a pencil, not really caring what color it was. If she wanted him to draw, well, then he would draw. She'd probably interpret stuff into his picture and then put him into a nuthouse, but hey, it was better than sitting with her.  


Rather forcefully, the boy scratched with the pencil over the paper, eyebrows knitted in suppressed annoyance. When he was finished, he shoved the sheet towards her and folded his arms, staring at the wall again.

The doctor took the picture and smiled watching at it. Daisuke was still fighting against her, but at least he had used the pencil and it was a beginning. Although he wasn't drawing what he thought, but what he thought about was the thing she wanted to see.  


Tamara Katashi stood up and walked around the table. "For now, our meeting is over, Daisuke," she spoke softly. "I believe that your friends are waiting for you. But we will see each other again tomorrow, and I hope you will think a bit about the things I told you." She led the boy to the door and they both walked through the hospital, back to his room. Davis didn't look at her. Not once.

******************

She stared into the mug of coffee and inhaled the welcoming smell of it. It gave warmth to her fingers and made her relax. Jun sighed deeply and looked around in the cafeteria she was sitting in. Daisuke was gone, visiting the doctor, and she had used the free time to eat something and drink a cup of black coffee. The girl had the strong feeling that she would need it.  


There was also another reason why she was sitting here; a few of Daisuke's closest friends were allowed to visit him, and she had advised them to meet her in the cantina first, to speak about his current state and the correct way to approach.  


While she took another sip of the hot drink, she found her thoughts trailing away, bringing back memories she hated. Every time when she had a minute of her own this happened, and Jun grew tired at it. It was as if these pictures were haunting her, never leaving her alone, not even in her dreams.

_As Jun entered the apartment, she immediately knew that father wasn't....in a good mood. It was always visible, the mood in the rooms seemed to be gloomier than the usual, nearly frightening. The girl quickly went to her room, hoping that his bad mood was the only thing that happened to day, but she already sensed the harsh reality.   
_

_She had just settled in her room, playing with a pencil, as the door opened again and her brother returned home. The soft steps told her that he also felt the mood change and feared the worst. She grabbed the pen until her knuckles were white under the skin, desperately praying that today would be *normal*, that today nothing would happen, that father would leave Davis in peace..._

_Then she heard Davis cry out in pain and immediately knew that it wouldn't be okay. _

_Within seconds the girl leapt to her feet and stumbled towards the living room. She met her mother who fled to the kitchen, eyes on the ground, and Jun's heart ached. This woman, whom she had once loved, let everything happen to her youngest child and could still wear a smile on her face. A pang of guilt caught her as she realised that she was doing exactly the same; leaving her brother alone because she was too frightened to help.  
_

_As she entered the room, she saw the same disturbing scene she had witnessed so many times and had tried to prevent, but to no avail. Her father, grabbing the younger boy by his neck and shaking him, hitting his head with the balled fist....Davis' lip was already bleeding and his face was tearstained.  
_

_"Stop it," Jun whispered hoarsely, and then repeated a bit louder: "Stop it!"_

_Her father looked at her, evil glinting in his eyes which had lost all love a long time ago. "Why?" He smiled sickly. "I'm just giving him what he deserves...."_

_Jun's horrified glance wandered from her father to the scared eyes of her brother. "You are hurting him," she shouted, "Don't hurt him! How can you act like that? You are our father, you...you...." She cried now and inched backwards as her father's eyes narrowed dangerously. _

_"I do what I want," he hissed, following her and jerking the boy with him. "And if you don't pay attention, young lady, you will get the same punishment. After all I just spared you because *your* grades were at least a bit decent!"_

_The man turned around, hitting Daisuke's face once more. The painful cry was all Jun needed; immediately the girl jumped forwards and grabbed her father's arm: "If you do love us, how can you act like that?" She sobbed, not giving free his arm._

_The blow hit her hard and she was thrown across the room. "Do not interfere!" Was the only answer she got as she stumbled to the ground. Her shoulder's shook of suppressed sobs as she stared wide-eyed at the scene, frozen in shock and horror, one hand on her cheek where her father had slapped her.  
_

_Jun didn't know why this hell had started, or when, but she just wanted it to be over. She just wanted to go away with her brother and find peace, protect him from this madness. But she was unable to do something, because this man held all the power, and so the only thing the girl could do was weep and try to collect the broken pieces._

Again she felt tears dwell up in her eyes and the weight of grief and guilt on her shoulders. If she had...If she just had talked with someone...if she just had summoned enough courage to do that...then it wouldn't have come this far, then all this wouldn't be needed and...

If, If , If....it was useless, and she knew that, but these thoughts never left her.

"Hello," someone greeted and Jun looked up, startled. In front of her was Ken, whom she recognised as the best friend of her brother, Hikari and this one guy who always hung around with Matt. What was his name once again? Tai?

It cost her a lot of strength to bring a weak smile on her face, but she managed it. "Come on, sit down," Jun motioned towards some empty chairs and cradled the coffee cup closer to her body.

The three followed her plea and sat around the table, worry visible on their faces. They had, in a meeting of all the friends, decided that it would probably the best if just a few of them went to the hospital; and from the beginning it had been clear that Ken would be one of them since he was Daisuke's best friend. Hikari was the next to be chosen, because the goggle boy had always seemed to like her and Taichi had been something like an older brother of him.

"How is he?" Ken asked softly and glanced at Jun, noticing how tired and...old the girl looked.

"Well...at least he talked," Jun sighed and shook her head. "Talking, that he is, but not much and only single words or syllables. It's nearly impossible to get one full sentence out of him, and he's terribly frightened." Her hands balled to fists and opened again. "Right now he's talking with a psychiatrist who's specialised on such cases. They say that he isn't dealing with his memories, and that this will cause him to crash down sooner or later. He didn't even cry a lot. Just once. It's not right. He's suppressing his emotions because he is afraid. And he doesn't trust anybody. Not even me. Maybe Veemon. But even that I don't know."

The others exchanged worried glances. "Is it okay when we see him?" Hikari wanted to know.

Jun laughed miserably. "Okay? Hell, nothing is okay these times...but I guess it can only make things better, huh? Maybe he talks with you. Or maybe he freaks out. I really don't know." She looked on her hands, tears in her eyes. "I'm always scared that I have lost my brother, every time when I see him and he stares at me with these wide, dull eyes. He is talking, yes, but I fear that it was only the first step and many more must follow."

"But if one can manage, it's Daisuke," Ken smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure of that. It wouldn't be the first time that he surprises us, would it?"  


Hikari laughed slightly. "Yes. There's more behind these eyes than one might assume."

Jun sniffed. "Ahh, well, I guess you're right," slowly the girl stood up and took the cup in her hands. "I will bring this back and then I will show you the way to Davis' room, okay?" She didn't wait for a reply, but immediately hurried to the other side of the cafeteria and placed the mug on the glass vitrine, nodding a thanks towards the young man who was working behind it. Then she returned to the others, leading them out of the room and through the hospital.

Taichi felt really uncomfortable. He couldn't stand the hospitals, and the last time he had been here, Daisuke had backed away from him with a fearful expression on his face. He would never forget this moment; and the leader of the digidestined had never imagined that once one of his friends would be...scared of him. 

And although he knew that the boy hadn't been particularly scared of *him*, but of all individuals, it hadn't helped much. These brown eyes which looked at him with the absolute horror...no, even when he became old and grey he wouldn't forget this look.

It didn't take long until they finally stood in front of Daisuke's room. 

Jun turned around. "I think it's better when I stay outside. I will wait here," she nodded towards a single chair which was standing on the corridor, "The doctor said that you may have 30 minutes." With these words she sat down and motioned them to enter the room.

Ken opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Hikari. Taichi stayed behind, frowning at Jun and wondering how she did manage that...

_She cares for her brother all the time...but who cares for her?_

He shook his head and followed the two younger teens, the thought never leaving his mind. And he promised himself that, even if he didn't like her that much, he would make sure that Jun wouldn't have to go through this alone. Nobody deserved this.

******************

Daisuke glanced up as the three visitors entered his rooms. He was sitting on his bed, back pressed against the wall, and had spent the last fifteen minutes with staring out of the window. His mind rotated when he recognised the three, and his first intention was to jump up and run away. It took all his will to stay in the bed.  


Worst of all was that he didn't even know why he wanted to flee. In his head were battling two voices; one of them screaming that he should get away, the other one trying to tell him that these persons used to be his friends, the people he felt closest to.

"Hi Davis," Ken greeted his friend and smiled shyly. "We came to visit you. I hope it's okay with you?" 

The question hung in the air, waiting for a response, while Daisuke tried to find one. Was it okay for him? Nothing was okay. This whole thing wasn't...okay. He wasn't okay. But...he didn't want to hurt them either, so he finally nodded.

_Go away....leave me alone....don't want to see anybody_

Hikari looked at her brother, unsure what to do. She had never experienced such a situation before and felt totally lost. But the confused look on her brother's face told her that he didn't know what to say, either. What did one talk about with an abused friend?

Luckily Ken wasn't stopped by such thoughts, which surprised Hikari, because he normally was the careful and serious one. It seemed that he had made the decision to help his friend with all his power.  


The indigo haired boy sat down on the bed, always keeping the soft smile on his face, for he didn't want to scare the boy any further. He noticed the distress in his friend's face and it hurt him to see Davis struggle like that.

_Make it stop..._

"You gave us quite a scare, do you know that?" His expression changed to serious as he tried to bring the boy to talk. "We thought that you would stay like that forever, and nobody of us liked this possibility! I'm glad that you've decided to come back."

Daisuke looked down, not meeting Ken's gaze. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, not noticing the surprised and relieved gasps his answer brought out of his friends. True, they had known that he had spoken, but between knowing and actually hearing it oneself was a big difference.

"You don't have to be sorry," it was Hikari's turn to speak. "Everybody would have reacted like that."

"Didn't want to worry you," Davis tried to explain, but realised that he couldn't. The memories of the past days were still blurry and painful.

_hurts..._

"No, you probably didn't want to," Ken agreed, "But what happened to you would cause everyone to break down, like Kari said, so there's no need to feel sorry - or ashamed. It's a hard time for you, but I - we - want you to know that we'll be there for you; that we will stay your friends no matter what happens."

Daisuke stared into the sincere eyes of his friends and felt the sudden need to cry. Didn't they know? Didn't they know what happened to him? How could they...still want to be friends with a loser like him? How....  


He grabbed the blanket and turned his head away, caught in his upcoming emotions. He was worthless, wasn't he? He had been brought here because his father didn't want him anymore. It was all his fault, all his fault...

_My fault..._

"What's wrong?" Taichi whispered to his sister. 

Hikari just shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered back, equally concerned. "Maybe he's remembering something...." Her voice trailed off at this imagination. She knew which memories would cause their friend such distress, and it made her heart break.

"Davis?" Ken asked worried, touching slightly the shoulder of his friend.

Daisuke gasped and took his arm away, flinching as if he had been hurt. Tears were flowing down his face, leaving silver stains on the pale cheeks. "I...." he stammered and tried to wipe the tears away with his sleeve. He bit his lower lip, feeling embarrassed for his way of acting and inwardly scolding himself.

_He was right...I'm weak. Pathetic. Can't even control my emotions._

"Nothing," he finally croaked, unable to meet the concerned gaze of his friends. "Just...a memory." 

"Davis, if you want to talk about this...," Ken started, but was interrupted by a loud "No!"

Davis smiled excusingly and sniffed one last time. "Thanks...a lot. But there are things you can't help me with. Things I have to deal with....alone."

Taichi shook his head at this statement and walked closer to the bed until he faced the smaller boy. "No," he said forcefully, "Let me tell you one thing, Davis: it's never good to face things alone. Especially something big like that. You are no superhuman, Davis, nor are you strong enough to keep this up. Believe me, if you won't accept help, it will destroy you. I...speak out of experience!"

Daisuke's eyes narrowed at this. "You sound like the psychiatrist they make me to attend." He crossed his arms and stared determined at his former idol.

"Well, maybe I do, but that only proves that I'm right!"

"It just proves that you are annoying me!" Davis snapped back.

"Just because you can't accept the truth, that's it!" Taichi was becoming angry, and Hikari stared worriedly at her brother, trying to calm him down. "Tai, remember where we are..."

"It's **my** life after all, isn't it?" Daisuke shouted. "So leave me the hell alone!"

Ken watched the exchange between the two, half-annoyed and half-amused. He shook his head and motioned Hikari to stay silent.

"It may be your life, but we are your friends and we are worried about you! You could at least listen to us!" Taichi threw his hands in the air.

Daisuke glowered at him and looked away. "I believe your time is over," he then growled angrily. 

Silence fell over the room, until Tai finally replied. "Fine." The teenager turned around and left the room, followed by Ken and Hikari.

Outside he leaned against the wall and sighed in frustration. Hikari smacked her brother on the head. "Just what the hell where you thinking?" she hissed angrily. "You can't act like that! He's ill! He's going through a heavy time, and doesn't need you to make it any more difficult!"

Tai looked guilty. "I know, but...I guess my temper ran away with me."

Hikari snorted. "Oh, I know, it's always your temper, one should think that you had finally learned a bit of patience, but no..."

Ken stopped the upcoming fight. "I personally think that it wasn't that bad," he said and smiled at Taichi.

"It wasn't?" The older boy blinked.

"No, because, if you haven't noticed, Daisuke acted for the first time like himself. He was angry, and he was shouting at you, just like he used to do before. I think that's far better than the empty shell he was before. I mean, he was showing emotions! That's a big improvement! And another thing..." The eyes of the former digimon kaiser twinkled in merriment as the other two stared at him questionably.  


"What?" They both asked curiously.  


"He talked more than single words and syllabi, like Jun had proposed. I would call that an improvement!"

Hikari opened her mouth and closed it again. "You're right..." she then said slowly, letting go the arm of her brother.

"You mean..." Taichi scratched his head, "If we get him riled up it will get better?"

"No," Ken raised his hand, "I mean that we should act as if he's the normal Daisuke. No tiptoeing, no being overly friendly. It won't help him to come back to his old self; he must accept that *we* accept him as the person he is and that we aren't troubled by what happened to him."

He smiled at the two and jumped in shock as soft clapping could be heard behind him. He turned around and saw a woman standing behind him, wearing a thick dark green pullover with a name tag on it. She was clapping her hands and beamed at him. Jun was standing beside her, giving her and odd stare.   


"I couldn't have said it better myself," the woman explained her applauise and stretched out her hand. "May I introduce myself, I'm Dr. Katashi, the psychologist of Daisuke Motomiya. And you are his friends, I might guess?"  


They nodded slowly and Kari was the first one to regain her composure. "I'm Hikari Kamiya, pleased to meet you," she smiled and pointed to her brother. "That's my brother Tai."  


"And I'm Ken Ichijouji," Ken said politely and shook the outstretched hand.

"What you said, my boy, was very correct," the doctor nodded, "It would be wrong to handle Daisuke like a broken doll. He might look - and even act - like that, but if you change your habits around him, it will only make things worse. He needs his friends, and he needs the friends he knew for such a long time...and not a stranger."

"Hey, I did something right," Taichi was positively surprised. "Although I think that he's brooding now," he sceptically glanced at the closed door.

"Let him brood," Jun waved it off, "Every brooding is better than the mood he was in before, I assure you."

"Well, if you say that..."

They laughed softly. Dr. Katashi turned slightly around. "I would like to speak with you about this a little bit more intensely; shall we go to my room? It's much more comfortable than here." She didn't wait for any form of agreement, just started to walk in the knowledge that the others would follow.

Jun just shrugged. "She's a little bit weird," she told the others and started walking.

"She is, indeed," Taichi agreed, curious of what was to come

*********************

He hugged his knees and stared at the wall. What was Taichi thinking? Talking with him like that...Shouting at him and...  


The boy sniffed, confused. What was happening? He could always feel the different sides in him; screaming that this all was his fault, that it was him who was weak, then another, angrier side who told him that he should go out and beat Tai, and then the third one, tiny and nearly unheard, sobbing.  


Davis was torn apart and didn't know what to do.

"Are you okay?" Veemon asked, who had stayed silent through the whole ordeal. He knew better than to interfere when Davis got angry, and it had surprised him a lot *that* he got angry. He had just gaped at the duo.  


Daisuke waved with his hand, motioned the digimon to be silent. Veemon let out a frustrated sigh. Right now the boy didn't want to talk with anyone, so lost was he in his thoughts.

_I'm so weak and useless and pathetic, and yet I acted like the king..._

His head started pounding and he just wished that it would go away, all the pain, all the sorrow. At night it was worst, when nobody was there and the medication didn't work, he would often find himself lying awake for hours, unable to escape the dark thoughts which entered his mind. When would it stop?

Would it ever stop?

Davis didn't know. And it frightened him. Long, long time ago he had believed that he had his life under control. And he had enjoyed living. But no such feelings were existent now; everything slipped under his grasp, had started slipping on this fateful day his father had slapped him in the face for the first time. The boy could still fill the shock he had endured, the shock and the pain and the rage. But soon the rage had disappeared, replaced by the immense feeling of helplessness. The words of his father had worked their way into his brain and wouldn't leave; never.

He was in jail now, Daisuke remembered. The idea scared him. It was because of him that his father was sent to prison; he would be so angry and kill Daisuke if he ever got free! The boy shuddered at the thought and clenched his eyes shut. The future didn't look very bright right now; only Jun and he were left, and their fate was to live in an orphanage. All dreams had died....

_Voices screaming at me_

_Telling me things, so many things_

_each of them sounds so right_

_and so wrong_

_I'm in the middle of this_

_I'm in the middle of the shattered pieces_

_Trying to find myself_

_Trying to find a way_

_But I'm blinded_

_by the reflecting light_

_And I don't know what to do._

  


He buried his head in his arms, cursing his luck which put him through that. Images of his father flashed through his mind, and once again he didn't know what to think - should he hate his father?

_No, it was your fault!_ Screamed one part of his mind. _You were too weak, you were a loser and he was just trying to help you. No father would beat his children, he wouldn't do that if it wasn't necessary, so it was totally your fault! _

_Despise him_, answered the other part with raging hate, _He's the one who hurt you, who brought you here and made your sister cry. Hate him, wish him death, because it's his fault, his fault that you are like this, that you and Jun have lost your home...._

Both side were strong, trying to convince him. Daisuke just lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering if he had gone mad, or if it was normal to hear such voices. Surely it wasn't normal, because he had never experienced it before...  


He turned around and covered his ears, as if to block out the unheard voices. His chest hurt, a dull aching pain where his father had put the knife into his body.

"Stop it," he whimpered, the short fight with Tai long forgotten, "Make it stop..."

But nobody was there to hear his pleas and the voices sent him tumbling in a whirl of confusion and fear, until he cried himself to sleep.

"_Mummy...can I have some ice-cream?" 5-year-old Daisuke pleaded, eyes huge in anticipation. _

_"Hmm...I don't know..." His mother pondered, "Only nice little children get sweets, ya know."_

_"I am nice! I have cleaned the dishes!" Davis protested._

_"Oh yeah, and you destroyed three plates, I remember that clearly, my son." The woman shook her head and sighed. "But since it's such a wonderful summer day and I'm in a good mood, you can get one." She took out her purse and called for her daughter. "Jun? We are buying ice-cream, you want one, too?"_

_"Of course!" the girl squealed delighted and ran towards the duo._

_Out of the shadows an older Daisuke watched, sorrow etched on his face. "Long time ago my life was lucky..." he whispered and wiped a single tear away. "Why not now? What happened?"_

_"Nobody knows," answered another voice, which startled the boy. He looked around and finally noticed Veemon, sitting in the green grass and smirking up at him. _

_"Veemon?" he asked confused. "What are you doing here? It's a dream!"_

_"Well, dude, you're dreaming that I'm here, so I'm here. I'm dream-Veemon!" the digimon flashed a grin and looked at the scenario once more. The little boy had now received his ice-cream and was eating it happily, only here and then disturbed by his sister who tried to tickle him so that his ice would fall to the ground. Veemon chuckled at this sight. "It's peaceful," he announced._

_"It *was* peaceful," Davis corrected and sat down on the ground beside his friend. "Unlike it is now. I just wish I could go back in time and live here where everything is okay, where nobody wants to hurt me. I don't understand it, Vee, why did he do that?"_

_His friend and partner sighed and shook his head. "This is the question I asked myself every time I saw him beating you. And believe me, I never could find an answer. Miyako said that sometimes things like that happen, and that it is nobody's fault without the person who does it. That people can change, or that one event brings out the evilness which is in them. Perhaps your father was like an evil digimon, possessed by a dark spirit."_

_Daisuke frowned slightly. "Maybe..." he said absently and traced with his fingers on the ground. The laughter of the children echoed through the park and a warm summer sun was shining down on them._

_Veemon looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You know, it's much easier to speak with you in your dreams than in real life," he stated and cocked his head._

_His reply was a smile. "Well, maybe that's because I'm just dreaming you, and that means that you're actually a part of me, and so nobody will ever know the things I tell you. And...when I dream, I can put the dark sides of me behind, these voices which never stop shouting at me. Here's the only place where I can find peace. Nobody is disturbing me here." Daisuke sighed and looked at his younger self once again._

_"I wonder," his voice trailed off, "I wonder if I will ever be able to laugh like that again - freely, without any grief and worry weighing me down..."_

**To be continued...**

  


* * *

*chuckles* My poor Daisuke...so confused...well, I'm quite curious which side will win. *smiles*

By the way, some of your reviews were that nice that I just *had* to write answers^^ 

**Satan Herself** - How I do it? Well, that is difficult...I really don't know. I just started writing and then it happens...Broken Wings was actually first a poem and I never thought of making a story out of it, but then I started liking the idea and here I am...O.o Another thing is practise, I guess. I just recently read my first stories, and boy, they are BAD!...Maybe I should remove them, but then again, it's somehow interesting too see an improvement in my language.

**Zentina** - Wow...now that was a review which raised my spirit! Thanks a bunch, you don't know how much you helped me with it; I immediately started writing after I read it. It's really like...well, your day is bad and then you start the computer and reach such a computer - and immediately everything is okay again and you start smiling. Really, thank you! And I'm sorry that you cried...well, I'm happy that I managed it to get the emotions right, but I didn't anyone to cry...Thanks again! I can't say it enough, I mean, I love your review!! Wow....

**Skywolf** - Guilt on Yamato and TK? Hmm, I think all the DD's would feel a certain amount of guilt. After all, it happened right in front of their nose and they didn't notice it! But if I put every single reaction in it, the story will be 20+ chapters long, and I don't want that to happen...We'll see.

**SnowTiger** - Thanks for the kind words; it's actually a great relief when reviewered don't put more pressure on you by yelling 'The next chapter! Fast!'. I must admit that I did it more than once myself, but still...it's nice that people understand that sometimes chapters can't be written in a rush...

**A.I.** - Same for you^^ Thanks for the kind words! I just love Davis and Jun fics, because their characters are so...interesting!

**Rukato Fan** - Yes, angst is my favourite genre, along with drama^^. I can neither write pure romance nor humour, and it saddens me deeply. I have great ideas for humour stories, but when I out the words on the paper, it isn't funnay at all *sighs*

And thanks to everybody else who has reviewed - you make my day, really! Can't tell how glad I am about every single review*beams*


	8. Fighting, Talking and lots of Confusion

Yes, I know that I'm late - again. Real life caught me in its mess, and then I started writing a LotR fic which was quite a stupid idea, considered that I haven't the time for it. However, strangely the progress for my LotR fic is much better than for this story, and therefore I'm really very sorry. I won't abandon it, but chapter updates won't come regularly or quickly. I'm just a lame writer *sighs*

Not much happens in this chapter, just more angst. Hm. I have to change this sometimes, for I don't want to end this story in a monster project. Maybe I'll manage a kind of showdown in the next chapter.... 

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

**Chapter Eight: Fighting, Talking and lots of Confusion **

  
Three Days later:

"You're well aware of the fact that it can't stay like this forever," Mrs Seto pointed out. "You have to go to school again, or else you don't have any chances."

"I know," Jun's expression was painful. "I know how important school is, especially now, and I *really* want to finish it...but not now! He needs me, I can't go to school and leave him alone like that!"

The social worker sighed and played with the pen in her hand. "Jun....that's another thing he has to learn. He can't depend on you. He must learn to stand on his own legs. It will help you both; you can go back to normal life and he has to deal with the fact that not always there will be someone there for him."

"How can you say that?" the girl shouted angrily. "It's far too soon for that! Hell, he barely started talking!"

"But he won't recover during the next two days, Miss Motomiya!" the elderly woman shoved her glasses up her nose. "It will take him months or even years! Do you want to stay with him all the time? You will miss so much during school, and this year will be your final year! If you want to be able to live on your own, you need an own job, and you'll only get a good job with a good education!"

Jun took a deep sigh and closed her eyes. She knew that the woman was right, and in fact, she wanted to do this....wanted to go back to school and pretend, at least for a few hours a day, that her life was totally normal.  


But she felt guilty for this; Daisuke didn't have the chance to do this, and it seemed unfair if she returned to the normal life while he was unable to sleep one single night without nightmares.

Mrs Seto's eyes softened. "I can fully understand what you're feeling, Miss. Really, I can do. But scarifying yourself to your brother won't help matters at all. He needs to learn how to deal with this, and he can only learn it on his own. It may sound cruel, but it will help. When he sees that you are able to have a normal life again, he will want to achieve this goal, too, and will probably work with more effort and co-operation." 

"It seems....unfair," Jun looked away, her spiky hair falling into her eyes.

"Life is never fair," the woman smiled, "But we have to make the best out of it. Can I call your school now and tell them that you're returning next week?"

A silent nod was her only answer.

**************

It was raining outside.

Daisuke peered out of the window and let out a small sigh as he saw the raindrops which were splashing against the glass. The weather was perfect for his mood. Although it wasn't even late afternoon, it was dark on the outside and the cars were forced to drive with the lights on. The constant sound of the raindrops was somewhat calming, a melody that could sing you to sleep.

The boy stared out of the window, a sleeping Veemon by his side. The last days had been so confusing, and he didn't know what to think anymore.

The conversations with the doctor, his friends, talking with him, Jun, always by his side - and he, in the middle, confused, alone, frightened. Never mind what he did, he couldn't get the images of his father out of his head. They were always there, buried somewhere in his brain and every time he felt the tiniest bit of joy, they would come back and haunt him.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the raindrops. What was he supposed to do? He was screwed. He was destroyed. There was nothing left of the old Daisuke Motomiya anymore!

Unconsciously his hand wandered to the bandage wrapped around his chest. The stabbing wound still hurt at night, but it had become better. The doctor was always saying that Davis was healing really fast and that he would soon be able to leave the hospital.

Now Daisuke just wasn't sure if he wanted to leave. Was he ready to go to the outer world again? Was he ready to face other people? To live normally?

He didn't know.

Everybody was so nice to him. As if this had never happened. As if he was still the old Daisuke...but even the old Daisuke had been a fake. How long ago had it started? When had he changed? The boy couldn't remember. One year? Or maybe even two? He had no idea, and quite frankly, he couldn't care less. It had happened. And it couldn't be changed.

He just waited for the day when they would finally realise that he wasn't his old self anymore. When they would turn back and spit at him because he was such a loser. Because he wasn't the strong boy he used to be, but a weakling, a whim, a small, frightened child. What use did he have? He had been the leader of the Digidestined, had fought against the evils of the Digital World....and now he couldn't even fight against the evil in his own heart.

Daisuke had never been strong. Or brave. He had merely rushed into things, trying to impress the others, trying to appear strong....while on the inside he was crying.

"They always thought that I was brave," he mumbled to himself, "But in the end it was just a desperate wish to please others!"

He sighed and looked away, gazing at the sleeping form of Veemon. The tiny guy seemed to be despaired by his attitude, and Davis felt sorry for him. The digimon was really trying to help him and to be his friend, but he didn't know how to respond. Talking seemed to be incredibly difficult.

Deciding that the air was growing too thick in his small hospital room, he stood up and opened the window. Cold wind blew into his face, along with a few raindrops, but he didn't back away. Instead he gazed on the outside, watching the empty streets with his brown eyes.

"Who am I?" Daisuke whispered and put his hand in the rain. The cold water splashed on his skin, rolling down and forming a small puddle in the middle of his palm.

"Who is the boy in this hospital room?" As if he was in trance he stared at his hand, wishing for an answer, but found none. "I'm not the one I used to be. I am different. I have changed.....How can I live with that? I lost myself..."

He closed his eyes in pain as the image of his father popped into his head. Shouting at him. Hating him. Beating him.

_Why?_

He couldn't remember how often he had asked himself this simple question. And yet he had never found the answer. Because his father hated him? But a father was supposed to love his child....Because he wanted to discipline him? Then why the evil glint of pleasure in his eyes every time he hurt his son?

When Daisuke had asked the others, they had answered him. Different answers. And all said the same. That it wasn't his fault. That none of this had been his fault. That his father was the one to blame.

He wanted to believe them, he really did! Because he knew that he would never be able to lead a normal life again when he believed that he was weak and useless, and that his father had been right to injure him.

Why did it have to be so difficult? Why couldn't life be easy?

Daisuke balled his fist, and the water seeped through his fingers. A single tear rolled down his cheek, leaving a silvery trace on the pale face. Angrily the boy wiped it away. No! He had cried often enough during the past days, he wouldn't do that anymore!

_I can't give up..._

How often had he told this sentence to others? Back in the time when his life had been normal? How often had he promised himself that he would never give up? Countless times. And he had never given up hope. It had been *him* who had believed in Ken while the others still thought of him as evil. It had been him who hadn't given up hope while fighting MaloMyotismon. Daisuke had learned that there was always a way, no matter what.

Now, he wasn't so sure anymore.

He had seen his sister. Had watched how she spent nearly all her time with him, and how lost she looked. She had nobody. Not even him. He couldn't support here, couldn't go over and give the older girl a hug. He just....couldn't. It was painful enough when the doctor touched him, the memories crashing down on him like nightmares.

Jun was living at the orphanage. He couldn't imagine that. His sister - at an orphanage? 

And yet she didn't hate it. She had told him that she had found a friend, and that it really wasn't that bad. He would find friends easily if he would be cleared from hospital.

_But I don't want to live at an orphanage!_

Would he have to change school then? Would he never see his friends again? And what about soccer? It cost money, and he doubted that the orphanage would pay him that...  


Could he even go back to school? Daisuke stared aimlessly out of the window, his hand still out in the cold rain. The idea of sitting in a classroom with his classmates seemed so strange, so normal...and yet frightening. The others would look at him and point with their fingers, probably laugh at him behind his back. He could already imagine their conversations, whispered, so that the teacher wouldn't be able to hear them.

_"And his father beat the crap put of him, can you imagine?"_

_"No way! What did he do?"_

_"I have no idea, but it must have been bad. He's living at an orphanage now!!"_

_"Eeep!"_

Daisuke shook his head. No, he wasn't ready to listen to this. The boy who once enjoyed every second of attention, now felt how his self-consciousness faded into nothingness. It was extremely frustrating. 

_Why bother thinking about it? They will probably never let me attend a normal school again...B'cause I'm a mental nutcase, a psycho, a totally screwed person._

Slowly he pulled his hand back and held it in front of his chest. It was dripping wet and frozen to the bones, but he didn't mind. Once more he took a deep breath out of the rain filled air, then he closed the window. It was time to talk to the doctor. Again. 

*************

**Later:**

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked politely, his blue hair neatly combed and an air of concern in his face.

Dr.Katashi, psychologist of the Odaiba Hospital, smiled back at him. She had immediately liked the boy and was quite certain that he would be able to help her current patient.

"Well, Ken," she started, "Would you say that you're a good friend of Davis?"

"Yes, I am," he answered, confused. "Why do you ask? And why am *I* the only one allowed to visit him today?" The former digimon kaiser didn't understand this. Over the past few days, a small group had always been allowed to visit their friend, but today only he had gotten the permission. It seemed rather odd.

"Because," the woman smiled slightly, "I need your help." She nodded towards the door. "Let's go to the cafeteria to discuss this."

Ken cast a confused glance at her once more, but saw no other choice but to follow. He desperately wanted to help his friend, and this woman was an experienced doctor, so she probably knew what she was doing. So the boy followed her through the corridors and up the staircase into the small cafeteria where they had met Jun a few days ago.

_Only a few days, and it seems like an eternity..._

He shook his head. It wasn't that long ago when he had thought that Davis was leading a normal life without any problems. In fact, he had been jealous of his friend sometimes, who seemed to take everything so easy. He was never shy, always brave and standing in the middle of attention, while he, Ken, liked to hide himself...

And now he had to realise that it had all been a fake. A lie. The guilt was weighing him down, gnawing away at his very soul.

Dr.Katashi motioned him to sit down and he did as he was told. The cafeteria was empty at this time of the day, only a single nurse drinking coffee at the other end of the room.

"Your friends told me," the doctor explained, "That you are Daisuke's best friend. Is that right?"

Ken laughed hoarsely. "Well, I thought I was. Until I realised that I hadn't noticed what was going on...what a great friend I was!" 

She shook her head. "Don't think like that. He didn't want you to know, and believe me, it's hard to notice it, especially when the victim himself wants to hide the truth. Even trained people, doctors and social workers, can't recognize the signs of child abuse! You can't wail in self-guilt now, because your friend needs you. I only allowed you to come because you seem to know him the best, you two seem to share the strongest bond."

Ken closed his eyes and sighed. "I...He...Davis and I, we had quite a rough past and he did something very...good for me. He trusted me, although I didn't trust myself, and I will be forever grateful for that."

Dr. Katashi nodded satisfied. "I thought as much. Have you have talked with him for the past few days?"

"Yes, but he doesn't reply...I mean, he replies, yes, but only short answers, like Yes and No. It's never a real conversation," Ken shook his head, "I tried to tell him that we all will help him through this, that he isn't alone, but...he just drew back and looked out of the window, totally ignoring me."

"He doesn't want to accept your friendship."

Ken looked up, hurt evident in his eyes. "But why?" he whispered. "Because we betrayed him? Because we didn't help him sooner...?"

"No!" she quickly interjected, "Not because of that. It has another reason, and that's why I'm having this conversation with you right now. You should know it, so that you can help Daisuke. I need you, because he will trust you more than me - after all I am a stranger." The doctor took a deep breath, searching for the right words. "I don't believe that he acts like that because he accuses you. It's merely the other way round. Ken, during my years in several hospitals I have seen many cases of child abuse. A common after effect is that the children blame themselves for everything that has happened, and that they feel ashamed."

"Ashamed?" the boy couldn't believe it. "But why? They didn't hit themselves, it was..."

Dr. Katashi raised her hand. "I know. For us, it seems illogical, but believe me, for them it makes perfect sense. In Daisuke's case I would say that he couldn't accept the fact that his father did this out of cruelty - because that would mean that he didn't love him. So he blames himself, keeps telling himself that he's useless and weak, stuff like that. Therefore, he hates talking with you, because he thinks that you will turn away from him."

"I would never do that!" Ken protested, "Even if he had never started talking again, I would have stayed his friend!"

The woman in front of him smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. But you don't need to tell me, tell it to him!"

Ken wanted to get up immediately, but was held back by the doctor. "Wait! I haven't told you everything yet," she pulled him softly back to his chair. "That's not the only reason he's acting so strange. He has changed. And he doesn't know how to live with that."

"I don't understand..."

She folded her hands, searching for a good example. "Well, if you wake up one day in a hospital and realise that your whole world crashed....that you are hurt, and that you can't sleep properly because your dreams are haunted with pictures of a person you used to love...that you aren't able to laugh freely anymore, or to touch another person...what would you think?"

For a few seconds it was silent between them. Then Dr. Katashi continued in a softer voice. "Suddenly you realise that you aren't yourself anymore, that you are afraid of seemingly normal things. You notice that your whole life, as it was, has been thrown overboard and that you couldn't do anything against it. And of course, you will wonder: Who am I? Who is this new person inside of me? Because the old person died somewhere on the way, and left a confused and frightened soul which has yet to find its own way. This happened to Daisuke, and now he's afraid. He's afraid that you, all of you, is expecting his old self. And that you will go away as soon as you recognise the changes."

"I just....we...." Ken didn't know what to say. He had never viewed the whole thing out of this point of view. "I noticed that he has changed, but we wanted to help him through it...as friends."

Dr. Katashi nodded. "And now tell me, what will you do if this change is permanent?"

The question hung in the air. Ken had to admit that he had never thought of this possibility, but now it seemed quite obvious. What would he do if his cheerful friend never came back? If Davis stayed like that...dependant...scared of his own shadow and so unlike his former self. Would he still be able to keep to him, to talk with him?

_But I know Davis...he never gives up, and I know that he can manage this. He's strong, even when he doesn't want to believe it. _

Ken shook his head, his voice barely a whisper. "He won't." With determined eyes he stared at the doctor. 

"But it's a possibility," she retorted calmly. 

"If this comes true, I will stay his friend. He deserves it, and I will never let a friend down. But...." his gaze hardened. "He will learn how to laugh again, I'm sure. I know Davis. I may not have known of this ordeal, but I have seen how strong he can be. If one can remain in high spirits, it is him. I trust him. I trust him that he can learn how to live with the help of his friends. Of me." He closed his eyes. "I won't even think of another possibility!"

"Very well," she clapped her hands together. "I don't know if this decision is very wise, but it's certainly a decision of a trusting friend, and therefore I'm very glad. Now you just have to tell this to *him*, for he won't believe me."

Ken cocked his head. "Was that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes. For now. We will certainly have some more conversations during the near future. I suggest you go to your friend now," Dr. Katashi smiled once more at him.

"I will do so," the boy stood up, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the conversation he had just held.

"Talk with him. And try to bring him on different thoughts. It will help. Be a friend. Not an advisor. Just a friend!"

He glanced at her, not sure what to make of this statement, but the woman just continued to smile and didn't offer further explanation, so Ken shrugged his shoulders and walked off. He went through the corridors of the hospitals, feeling an inward hatred towards this place which had caused his friend so much pain, although he knew very well how irrational this was.  


With a sigh he turned around a corner and found himself in front of the door of Daisuke's room. Softly he knocked, hoping that this visit would help the begoggled boy at least a little bit.

The first thing he noticed was the open window. It was cold in the room, and rain splashed on the ground from the outside. Daisuke stood in front of the window, head in the rain and eyes closed, as the water trickled down his neck. 

For a moment, Ken was frozen in both surprise and shock. What was he doing there? He surely wouldn't...no, he wouldn't dare, would he?

Quickly he paced through the room, fear gripping his heart, and grabbed the other boy by his shoulders. Daisuke yelped startled and backed away.

"Wha...leggo!" he shouted and struggled against the grip, until he realised that it was Ken. He relaxed a bit and glanced at his friend accusingly. 

"What was that for?"

"You were...." Ken started, but couldn't speak out his fears that Davis had been on the verge of jumping out of the window. "You were standing in the cold and..." his glance trailed down the lanky body of his friend. "You're all soaked! What were you thinking?"

Daisuke turned away. "I just wanted to feel the air. I wanted to feel that I am still alive. Being in this room is like being in prison. I just...." he shook his head. "Never mind. You won't understand."

"Try me," Ken said softly, despaired that his friend was again turning him down.

"No," was the whispered reply. "I can't even understand myself!"

"You are confused, but that's normal," the indigo haired boy hesitated, remembering what the psychologist had told him. "Daisuke, always remember that you're not alone. I'll always be here for you, and I don't care if you have changed. You are my friend."

The boy stiffened and turned away. "I'm not your friend anymore," he croaked. 

"Of course you are!"

"NO!" Daisuke nearly shouted and looked at him with angry eyes. "Don't you see it, Ken Ichijouji? I'm not myself anymore! I have changed! The old Daisuke Motomiya died, the person who was your friend has DISAPPEARED! There's nothing left, just...me..." he covered his eyes. "Just a pathetic whim, uncertain of himself. So don't talk like that! How can you be my friend if you don't even know me?"

"I know you," Ken said firmly, forcing Davis to look at him. "Look at me!"

At first Daisuke cast his eyes downward. Ken put one hand under his chin until the brown eyes met his. "Look at me, Davis," he repeated softly. "I know you. And believe me, you are still the old Daisuke Motomiya. You are scared, you are frightened and you feel lost. But I see the same old sparkle in your eyes; the same old temper, the same energy, the same stubborness. It's there, but it's hidden under your confusion and your sadness. But it *is* there!"

Silence fell over them, and then a single tear rolled down Daisuke's cheek. "You don't understand..." he whispered, as if it was his own little mantra. "You don't know how it is...how it feels at nights...the despair....the pain....the hopelessness...."

"Then make me understand!" Ken shouted desperate. "Please, Davis! Make me understand, so that I can help you! Tell me what bothers you!"

Daisuke took a deep breath and then brushed the boy's hand away that was still lying on his shoulder. Tears were running freely down his cheeks now. "You want to understand?" he yelled, half angry, half sad. "You want to understand how it feels? It is the HELL, Ken! Sometimes I wake up at night time, thinking that he came back to punish me! I feel like crying, all the time, because I don't know what to think anymore! I'm divided into two parts...and...and....every part has its own opinion..."

He ran a hand through his dishevelled brown hair. "Then I have to talk to this stupid doctor, and she seems to be able to look right into my soul! I don't want to talk about what had happened, I want...I want to leave it behind..."

The boy sniffed and stared with wide, haunted eyes at his friend. "Sometimes I scare myself. Sometimes I stand up and want to end it all. Then I'm like in a trance, I can't think clearly. I found myself staring at the butter knife, dreaming of CUTTING MY WRISTS! I couldn't remember how I got there, and it scared me. I never thought of suicide before, and now I'm dreaming about it every night!! I'm afraid that I will do something stupid....I can't even have a normal conversation without having a nervous breakdown. When people touch me, I just...freak out and want to run away! I'm totally SCREWED and I KNOW it!!!!!" His eyes were full of tears as he spat out these last words.

Ken stood in shock. Daisuke had been thinking of killing himself? He shook his head. It had come so far...

"You are not screwed," he then opposed, sincerity shining in his eyes. 

Daisuke just shook his head, not believing him, so Ken continued. "Screwed people don't know that they are screwed. Your behaviour is normal - everybody would feel like that after such a treatment. Do you think we would act differently? The hell, if I....if my father....I guess I would have never talked again!! I mean, you managed it so far...you talked, you are able to touch people at least a little bit...All these little steps... don't they mean anything to you?"

He searched for the right words. "I mean...it is difficult. Very difficult. And we will never be able to fully understand what you are experiencing. But we will be by your side, no matter what happens. You have to believe me! You would make us very sad if you killed yourself - especially your sister! I think she wouldn't survive it; you're the only one who's left of her family."

Daisuke plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes. Oh, how he wanted to believe these words....how he wanted to believe that everything would be okay, that he still had friends and that he - somehow - could regain his old self! But...

_You are different. You are another person. You aren't Daisuke anymore. Daisuke has died. Has left this world. There is no digihero. There is no soccer maniac. There's just me..._

"Maybe Daisuke would have managed that...but not me," he whispered into the pillow, back turned to Ken. "I don't even know who I am. I have lost myself! How can I ever live again if I have lost myself???"

The question hung in the air, and Ken couldn't find an answer. He hated himself for that, but he was just...clueless. If Davis felt like that...then how could he find out? How could he remember?

"I can't find an answer on this question," he said honestly after a few minutes of silence. "But I don't believe that you have lost yourself. There are still some parts of the same old Daisuke left; you just need to find them. You still have your strength. And I will prove it to you!" Ken spoke with more firmness than he felt, but he needed to bring Daisuke out of his self-destructing depression.

Silence hung over the room like a thick blanket. Just the sniffling of the brown-haired boy could be heard - a boy who had once been so optimistic, so full of life and so sure of himself. And in this silence, Ken promised himself that he would give everything to help his friend to regain this attitude. For you truly only knew the true value of what you possessed after you had lost it. They had lost a precious friend, and he was determined to find him again.

**To be continued....**  


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Dejitaru Yami** - New name, huh? I like it^^ The funny thing is that I'm usually not depressed when I write angst...to be quite honest, I'm rarely depressed. I just get caught up in the story and well....I don't really see what I'm writing anymore *shrugs* 

**Jakane** - I will certainly keep this story going...but the chapters will take long. *sheepish grin* I'm sorry, but right now my life is totally busy, and the fact that I have discovered the LotR fandom isn't helping one bit...I don't know if this will be a Daikari. I don't think that Daisuke is ready to fall in love yet. Maybe in a sequel :p (if I'm ever writing one, that's it!)

**Gato Goddess** - I'm glad that you liked it that much! Thanks for the review...and of course I'll let you know when I update!

**SnowTiger** - On good reviews I always give comments, unless I'm very, very busy :P Ah yes....the plot is building and I don't know how to continue *sighs* Terrible thing....

**Shiroi Taiyou** - Hey, I like TaiJun, too, so I won't laugh. I think they fit together very well...but I have no idea if I will include any romance in this fic. I can't write it...maybe a few hints or so, but that's all.


	9. Runaway on a soccer field

Okay, this is the revised version of this chapter....there are still a few parts I don't like, but at least I could delet the most mistakes with the help of some people who were so nice to beta. Thank you, guys!

Another note: I might be mixing up soccer and football, but I always mean the same. It's just because we have to learn British and American English in school and I tend to mix those, which of course isn't very good.

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Broken Wings

by Kaeera

** Chapter Nine: Runaway on a soccer field **

She just stared at the empty room, mouth hanging open in wide surprise, a mixture of shock and worry crossing her normally so happy features. She had been in school this morning, like she had been for the last week, but this day was different from all the others. Daisuke wasn't there.

He just wasn't there!

Rubbing her eyes as if trying to make it go away, the girl entered slowly the room which had become a second home of her brother over the last days. Nearly two weeks had passed since the faithful incident, and Davis was getting better, although the progress was very slow and barely visible to a normal person. With the help of his sister and his friends he had been able to walk over the corridor without freaking out and he even went into hospital's park. 

As Jun had asked what he thought about her going back to school, he just smiled this tiny smile and nodded, telling her that at least she should live as normally as possible. Relieved by this response, the girl had left the next morning, going back to her old class. There had been quite a few rumours about her absence, but surprisingly nobody said anything bad about her behind her back, and she enjoyed the few hours of normality she could get there.

And now Daisuke wasn't there. But he was supposed to. He was supposed to sit in his hospital room, reading a book, watching TV or just staring out of the window, which he had done very often during the last time. However, the room was empty. No Daisuke.

"Davis?" she called softly, although she knew that it didn't make sense. If she didn't see him, he had to be somewhere else. Trying not to panic, she left the room and looked down the corridor.

_Maybe he just went to the toilet, or went for a walk...No reason for over-reacting._

In the distance she could hear the soft sound of rain, which was splashing down on the room. It was impossible to go out without getting soaking wet – that meant that Davis hadn't went outside, at least not for a simple walk. Jun slowly started to walk, looking into every room she passed. Unconsciously, her steps became faster, as she couldn't see the slightest sign of her brother.

"No, no, no,!" she whispered, on the verge of tears. "This is all my fault; if I had stayed with him...if I...if I had just done something..."

Rounding another corner, she didn't watch where she was going – and promptly ran into another person. Jun stumbled backwards, wincing slightly. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered and looked up, only to see the face of Taichi Kamiya, a worried frown on his normally so even features.

"Jun?" the boy asked worriedly. Behind him, Kari looked confused at her, accompanied by Miyako and Ken. "Is something wrong?"

She just sat there, staring at him. Then, after a while of uncomfortable silence, the Motomiya sibling finally found her voice again. 

"It's Davis – I can't find him!" Jun leaned against the wall for support and closed her eyes. "I came back from school and went to see him, like I did every afternoon those last days, but he wasn't in his room. I searched for him, but he isn't in the cafeteria, and nobody has seen him!"

The frown on the Taichi's face increased. "You don't think that he has run away, do you?" 

"That's _exactly_ what I think," she whispered, looking out of the window. "That's what I'm afraid of..."

"I hope he doesn't do something stupid," Kari said, paling visibly.

"Now, don't panic," Taichi calmed down. "We don't even know if he's really run away. I say we split up in groups and search the hospital. He's probably just walking around somewhere and lost track of time; I mean, you know Daisuke. He usually doesn't run away..." His voice trailed off as he remembered the fact that he really couldn't say that anybody of them *knew* Daisuke, because nobody did. Not after what had happened.

"Let's meet in half an hour," He decided, covering up his insecurity, "We'll all take a separate floor and work our way around the entire building. Let's go!"

They departed, Jun still sniffling. She knew that they wouldn't find him...it was such a feeling deep in her heart which told her that Daisuke had really run away, and they should search him outside. Besides, the doctor had warned them that something like that might happen. All the emotions were piling up on Daisuke, and it had to come to an outburst one day. How had she said it?

_"...and this outburst might decide over the future of your brother, Miss Jun. He will feel left alone, afraid and not like himself anymore, and it lies in your hands to convince him that he still has something to live for. It can help him, or it can destroy every step we made so far. We never know before..."_

***********

He ran blindly through the rain, his feet splashing on the ground, but he didn't mind. He was only wearing a T-shirt which barely hid the bandages that were still covering his upper body, and the cheap sports shoes which were already soaked with water. The cold wind bit through his wet shirt, making his thin body shudder with cold. 

Daisuke had no idea where he was heading to, nor did he care for it. He just ran, his mind concentrating on the task of setting one foot behind the other without falling.

Why was he running? He couldn't remember. It just seemed important – to run. Back in the hospital, the walls of his room had suddenly started to become threatening, resembling more and more a prison with every minute that passed. The urge to leave had grown, until Daisuke had been unable to stay there any longer. He wanted to be outside, he wanted to feel the air, and he wanted to be....free...

And above all, he wanted to be himself again.

So he had sneaked out of the white building, carefully making sure that nobody saw him. And now he was here, running through the rain.

The padding of his feet was the only sound audible, with the exception of an occasional car passing by. Nobody wanted to be out there in this heavy rain. 

His chest was heaving and his fast steps were slowing down, as he stumbled over the street. Daisuke was growing tired from his run, because he wasn't exactly in the best of conditions. His wounds started hurting, a deep, nagging pain inside his skin.

The boy slowed down into a jogging pace, inhaling the wet air. His hair was sticking flat on his head, flattened by the water, unlike the usual mess he wore as a hairstyle. 

Daisuke glanced down at the water, watched as each raindrop splashed on the wet, black surface of the asphalt, forming circles on the surface. Then he looked up, for the first time growing aware of his surroundings. He had run without bothering which path to take, and now Daisuke was quite surprised as he realised that he had automatically taken the route to a place which was more than familiar to him.

He stopped and looked over at the large field between the trees, not far away from the small street he was standing on. Between the skyscrapers of the city and the high buildings, this flat place was quite unusual.

Daisuke just stared, remembering this place. It was the soccer field his team usually practised on; not the school team, but the team he and Ken played in together in their free time. They were fairly good, and it had always been fun to be on this place and practise with the other guys.

He looked at his trembling hand. The old Daisuke had found it great to practice with the other guys, but he wasn't sure about the new one. "I know that I loved soccer," he whispered to no one in particular.

Slowly, he stepped down from the road, his shoes sinking into the mud. The soccer field was empty; the rain was too heavy to play in. Like in trance the boy walked on the field until he stood in the middle of it, his eyes fixed on the oh-so familiar white markings on the green grass. How often had he spent his time here? How often had he won – and lost? Countless times, and he had never stopped enjoying.

At least not until the thing with his father had started. Then it had merely become an escape, a place where he knew the man couldn't hurt him, and the only place where he could still be himself. And now?

Daisuke looked up at the sky, blinking as the raindrops splashed right into his eyes, but didn't move. He just stared at the grey, cloud-covered sky as it stretched above him, and the water which continued to fall down, confused. 

_Back then the weather had been similar, although the rain hadn't been as heavy as it was today. Cold wind was blowing over the place, and the field was covered in mud, as were the players. But they didn't care. They didn't care that they looked like wandering mud balls, their usual blue uniforms now covered with thick, brown mud. They didn't care that they slipped on the wet surface, and fell to the ground more than once. They didn't care about the cold either, because they were running around like mad and feeling pretty warm. It just didn't count, because they were having a match, and they wanted to win!_

Every player was concentrated on the former white soccer ball, now resembling a brown stone, focusing on bringing the damn thing into the goal and score. 

"Over here!" Tatsuki shouted, and waved excitedly. 

Daisuke, who currently had the ball, glanced around and noticed that his friend and team-mate was free. Immediately he turned around, ducking away from the two players who wanted to take the ball and shot it towards the red-haired boy. Tatsuki's face lit up in a grin, although his mouth was barely visible under the dirty brown mud which covered his face. 

Daisuke flashed him an equal grin and raced ahead. They were nearing the end of the game, and they were all exhausted. He could feel the tiredness creep up on him as the sweat run down his forehead, mingling with the raindrops. But he refused to stop, because they weren't leading yet, and he was determined to win this game. 

Out of the corner of his eye he watched the ball while he ran ahead into the opponent's part of the field, swiftly moving around the opposing players.

Tatsuki was having some problems now, but Ken came to his help. He took the ball and distracted the opponents. Davis smiled slightly; it was great to be together in a team with his best friend. It was ways better than going against each other as opponents like they had done some time ago. Ken still had his excellent soccer abilities, showing agility with the ball others could only dream of. 

He didn't even notice the rain anymore, although it splattered down in huge waves now, the wind splashing it against his face like thousands tiny little needles.

He hugged himself as the memory came to the surface and slowly sank on the ground, closing his eyes. A slight whimper escaped his lips – would he ever be able to be that happy again? To be totally engulfed in something that nothing else counted? To feel this excitement, this happiness and this....will while playing as a team, together? 

Would he ever feel life like that again?

Daisuke ran a hand through his soaked hair. Those questions...couldn't they leave him in peace? Why had life to be so difficult? Why couldn't he just start living again? Why...he wanted it after all! Damn, he wanted to trust his friends, he wanted to be able to go out again and laugh, he wanted to be able to forget...and yet he couldn't. 

What had the doctor said? "You can't forget", or something along those lines. 'You can't forget this, because it will always be burned in your mind. You can only suppress it, and that won't help you a bit. Maybe you will feel better for a few days or even months, but then the memories will grow, and some day they will crash down on you and destroy everything you have gained so far. No, Daisuke, your only way to forget is to deal with this, and you know that I'm right. I can see it in your eyes.'

Duh...easier said than done. He had to deal with it. Funny. But how? 

Every time a memory came to the surface, it was a struggle, and every time he ended up crying, wishing desperately that he had never tried to remember. Images he never wanted to see again came back to haunt him, images of his father, of the knife, of the foul words ringing in his ears... 

_It happened so fast that he couldn't say later who had done what. He didn't think, just acted out of pure reflex and instinct – and it worked. Ken was running by his side, with the ball, and they dodged their opponents, moving easily around them, the perfect team. Although the ground was wet and slippery, Daisuke ran at full speed. _

And then he was in front of the goal, and then he leaped up in the air in order to avoid the other boy, and then Ken shot the ball towards him and then his foot shot forward...he didn't even think about it, it was happening automatically. The ball connected with his foot and dashed away at high speed, while Daisuke landed back on his feet.

Or better, tried to land. He had too much energy and his shoes slipped on the wet surface, throwing his legs into the air so that he landed rather painfully on his back. It made a loud splashing sound, and he felt the sticky mud enter his ear. The boy groaned in disgust, blushing a bit. That certainly had looked utterly ridiculous – so typical him, to make a fool out of himself.

But nobody laughed – instead the cheering started. Confused, Daisuke looked up, trying to get the mud out of his hair, but realising that it really had no use. 

"YOU SCORED!" screamed Tatsuki and jumped over to hug the startled boy. "WE'RE LEADING NOW, MAN!!!" 

"Wha-..." stuttered Davis, as he was hugged by his team-mate.

"That was GREAT!" came another voice, and then another pair of arms flew around him. Daisuke, still somewhat baffled, only slowly realised that his rather awkward shot had obviously scored a point for them. Now his team was in the lead – and only five more minutes in the game!!

Slowly a grin started to spread over his face. "WOHOOO!" he yelled and jumped up, not bothering that he was covered in mud and soaked to the bones. "WE'RE GONNA WIN!"

His team cheered, and Daisuke beamed proudly. He could have hugged everyone and everything, but knew that he had to restrain himself, at least until the match was over...

A sad smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He had been happy back then, and they had actually won the game. The party they threw afterwards had been really marvellous, although Daisuke hadn't been able to stay very long, because he had to go home – to his father. Nonetheless this had been a day of happiness, and even the grumpy face of his father hadn't managed to destroy his triumphant feeling. 

He turned around, his eyes wandering over the soccer field. So many memories – good and bad ones. His friends, his team, one unit... 

Daisuke's gaze stopped as he saw a small, round object lying not far away. Slowly he walked nearer to it and recognised it as a ball. Not a soccer ball , because it was too small for that, but a cheap children's ball, like the kind you get in the supermarkets with nice little drawings on it. 

The thing was covered in mud, like everything else, but one could still see the colourful painting through the brown surface. It was the only thing which had bright colours, compared to the grey sky and the green-brownish grass. 

Daisuke hesitantly kneeled down in front of the small ball and took it in his hands. He traced along the material, wiping the mud away.

Then he stood up again, holding the ball in his hands as if he didn't know what to do with it. 

Then, after a few endless minutes, a smile spread over his face. He started to kick the ball with his feet, balancing it on his knees, and tried all the tricks he had perfected during his time as active football player. Daisuke didn't know why he was doing this, but it was somehow.....satisfying. 

A long time ago, there had been a boy who adored soccer. He would spend every free minute with practising, and every time he played, there would be a fire in his eyes, lighter than anything else.

But then the fire burned down, and the eyes stopped glowing, while the boy stopped playing soccer....

***********

Ken didn't know why he was out here in the rain. Well, actually he did, but he didn't know where he was heading. Jun, who was following him, didn't seem to know, either – no surprise, after all, Ken had just grabbed her hand and dragged her out in this weather.

It had just been an idea – no, not even idea, more a feeling, a hunch. A feeling that Daisuke wasn't in the hospital: that he was at an entirely different place. And so he had snatched his jacket along with Jun and had ventured out in the rain.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked for the umpteenth time. 

"Somewhere," Ken answered curtly, while blinking against the rain.

"Duh," Jun rolled her eyes. "I want to search for my brother, not run around in the rain!"

"We are searching! And believe me, Daisuke ***is*** out here in the rain! He won't stay in the hospital when he's bothered by something!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because he always goes out when he's troubled. He hates being in narrow spaces then. At least that's what he told me once when I found him in a tree...."

"Right...I remember....but the city is huge! Do you know any particular place?"

"I have one in my mind, yes."

"Which one?"

"...."

"Come on, tell me, it's my brother after all, and I'm getting soaked as well." Jun started to get annoyed.

"I don't know," Ken's sounded slightly exaggerated. "I mean, it's just a feeling..."

The girl rolled her eyes once more and wiped the water out of her face – not that it had much use. 

"Well, I hope he at least brought a jacket." she said, casting a worried glance at the sky. "Or he will catch pneumonia in this weather – his wounds are still healing after all!"

"Knowing Davis, he probably ran out in a T-shirt." the indigo-haired boy replied grumpily.

"You have a point there."

"I know."

"Now, Mastermind, care to tell me WHERE exactly we are HEADING?"

Ken threw his hands up in the air. "Alright, alright! I just thought about the park which is not far away from here, and since Davis always seems to seek nature when he has problems, this seemed like the most logical place to go."

Jun snorted. "And that was so difficult to tell? Men!" she rolled her eyes for a third time this day and then stormed off. "But I think you could be right – let's go!"

Ken gaped open-mouthed after her and shook his head. "Now I know here Daisuke's stubborn threat comes from..." he muttered and followed the tall girl. He shuddered slightly as a cold wind blew past them and pulled his jacket closer around his body.

Jun stormed blindly through the rain, not bothered by the cold. She was fuming, both of anger and of fear, and the girl just hoped that they would indeed find her brother soon – because she didn't want to lose him again. Yes. Again.

Back then, when she had discovered what had happened – when the hospital had called, when the message came that her father had been arrested because of attempted murder on his only son, she had thought that she had lost everything. Her family, her brother, her life.

Arriving in the hospital she had been relieved that her brother would pull through, that he wouldn't die. But the days after that were the hells, to be quite frank. Daisuke was always quiet…

A silent Davis? Her brother, not speaking at all, just resembling this fragile doll? She could almost feel how disturbed he was, how he was seeking for himself, not accepting any help. Jun had been so glad when he had finally started speaking again, firmly believing that this was an improvement and that it would go uphill from now.

She had been wrong. Obviously.

Damn it!

Her pace quickened, as an empty park came into sight. She and Ken had left without telling the others, who were probably now waiting patiently in the hospital. The 30 minutes were long over, but she didn't care, they could wait – Davis not.

"Here's the park," Jun murmured and stopped in her track, with the effect that Ken ran right into her back.

"Umph!" the genius made and glanced irritated at the Motomiya sibling.

"You really think he's there?" the girl asked, giving a damn about apologising.

Ken simply nodded, inwardly sighing. "I mean, I'm not sure, but I have such a feeling."

"Alright. Okay. We'll go." Jun started to walk again, followed by Ken. The two ventured into the green park, now wet with rain.

"Ken?" Jun asked absently while the wandered through the grass, occasionally glancing around and searching for a certain brown-haired boy. "You're Daisuke's best friend, aren't you?"

Surprised by this, he raised an eyebrow. "I used to believe that I was," he stated rather flatly, "But I'm not so sure anymore."

"Nobody of us is," she sighed, brushing through her long, wet hair. "You, after all, didn't know it, while I saw everyday what happened to my brother and didn't dare to stop it. I've heard you talking with Dr. Katashi, Ken. I know what she said. Uhm...and I'm really glad that Davis has friends like you."

"What are you trying to tell me, Jun?" Ken eyed her suspiciously. 

"I...don't really know. I wanted to thank you, for being there for my brother. You and all the others. You're a great bunch of people, ya know. Never left him alone, even when he was in such a condition."

"He deserves it," the former Digimon Kaiser stated simply, "He would have done the same for any of us."

"Yeah." Jun smiled slightly. "I know. That's my brother! And what I wanted to say – I think he still trusts you, Ken."

"What?"

"He trusts you. He might be confused, he might not know who he is, or what happens to him, but you and the others are still in his heart – as friends."

"How do you know?"

A small grin spread over her face. "I saw him. I watched him while you were visiting him some days ago. The girl – what was her name? Hikari? – he used to have a crush on her, right? She still manages to bring this sparkle in his eyes, even though it's dimmed; but it's there. He seems to forget what's happening with him when you're there..."

Ken sighed. "Maybe, but he also...is so confused, and I never know what to say. He feels that he's changed and that he's not Daisuke anymore, that he's someone else."

Jun groaned. "Oh, right. He's afraid that everybody will leave him, and that's why he tries to isolate himself..."

"He hasn't learned that he is still the old Daisuke, only that his personality has....grown. He may have changed, but he didn't morph into a different personality. There are still some of his old character traits there, and we just need to coax them out."

"Character traits?" Jun looked confused. "Like what?"

Ken pondered for a moment, scratching his chin. "Like...uh...wait, let me think..." Then his face lit up as he saw a more than familiar figure on a soccer field not that far away. 

"Like soccer, for example!" And he pointed over to the place.

Jun's eyes nearly bugged out, as she saw her brother. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?" she whispered.

"He is," Ken smiled, positively beaming. "He's playing soccer!"

********

Up and down, up and down, up and down...the ball bounced off his knees, flying through the air where he caught it with his foot. It was a quite interesting way to spend one's time – although it didn't seem like a very intelligent thing to do, it needed good hand-eye-coordination. It might look simple, but anyone who tried it has come to realise that it's indeed not always as easy as it looks.

He had practised for hours when he had been little, learning those little tricks which were wonderful to impress friends with – and to show off. To top it off, it improved his skills, his agility and his muscles. And it made fun. It never got boring, because he was always concentrating. Unlike school, he actually liked what he did and used ever part of his brain. Maybe he would have been better in school as well, if he didn't spend all his time in it sleeping and staring out of the window.

No. Wrong. Had spent all his time with sleeping and looking out of the window. For it was over. He wouldn't go to school ever again….he wouldn't sit in class and stare out of the window while the teacher told them something about the First World War. It was odd, but that thought made him sad.

Nonetheless Daisuke continued playing, his eyes fixed on the ball. He didn't notice the rain anymore, nor the cold – or the two approaching figures that ran to him, waving, over the soccer track.

"Davis!" somebody screamed, and he looked up, startled. The ball landed in the mud with a loud 'Splash' and rolled a few meters away. Daisuke regarded it sadly; he had been so good right now, if he hadn't been interrupted.

The two persons had reached him by now, panting heavily, and his eyes met theirs. He was rather surprised to find his sister and Ken there, both drenched and looking utterly soaked, shoes covered in mud. Oddly attached he realised that he was probably looking the same.

"Davis!" Jun shouted once more, her eyes gleaming. "What did you think? Running away like that, you had us all worried!!"

The boy blankly stared at her. Oh, right…the hospital. He had run away, now he remembered. He had forgotten about it while he had played, had forgotten the reason why he was out here, and...and he had nearly been happy. If they hadn't interrupted...

Anger started to grow in him, and he jerked his head away, refusing to meet his sister's gaze. "Whatever." he muttered, crossing his arms.

"Whatever?" the girl threw her hands in the air and glared at him. "Don't give me this 'I don't care' attitude! I was worried sick about you. Why didn't you say anything when you left? And why did you go out in weather like this?" She gesticulated to the sky, which was still covered with dark clouds and to the rain, pouring down on them.

"Because," was the one-word reply.

Jun took a deep breath and wanted to start another tirade, but Ken stopped her. 

The indigo haired boy stepped forward and took the ball from the ground, not caring about how dirty it was. "You played?" he said, more a statement than a question.

Daisuke simply nodded, feeling a lump form in his throat. The only good thing about this rain was that nobody would see him crying if he did...

A small smile appeared on Ken's face as he held out the ball to his friend. "I knew it."

Davis looked up, as he heard the certainty and trust in the Ken's voice. "Knew what?" He inquired in his raspy voice.

"That you were wrong." Ken was grinning now, and Daisuke scowled. 

"About what?"

"Do you remember what you said to me?"

The brown-haired boy shook his head, hugging his thin body. Now that he had stopped playing, he started to feel the cold again and shivered slightly.

Ken looked him right into the eye and repeated the words which had shocked him not so long time ago: 

"You said to me: _ I don't even know who I am. I have lost myself! How can I ever live again if I have lost myself???_'"

Jun gasped and her hand flew to her mouth, and Daisuke's eyes widened slightly. Then resignation crept on his features. "I was right with that."

"No, you weren't," he gently shook his head. "You're still yourself, you know. Even after what happened, you have still kept your old personality – at least part of it. You played football, Daisuke. And you didn't just play with the ball. You enjoyed it! I saw it in your eyes. You were so occupied that you didn't even hear us! And we weren't that silent..."

He opened his mouth in shock and closed it again. Ken could clearly see the confusion shining in his eyes, begging him for more, for reassurance that he was indeed not just an empty body without a soul.

"He's right, ya know," Jun added, her voice softer now. "You're always different when you played soccer. I mean, come on, it is your life! You practically live that sport! And there's still the same old energy that runs in your veins, the same old spirit, although it may be dampened."

"In order to live again, you must hold on something." Ken continued. "And damn, if you can't hold on your friends, then hold on something you know you love – like soccer!"

Daisuke slowly took the ball from Ken's outstretched hand and felt suddenly very tired. "I want to," he whispered exhausted, "I really want to trust...you. And me. But it's so damn difficult that I feel like crying all the time."

"But you don't have to cry alone." Jun said after a moment of silence, and that broke the damn. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he heard this simple statement, and his sister quickly hugged him as he searched for comfort he hadn't been able to ask for the last days. 

"I'll be there for you," she whispered in his ear as he sobbed in her T-shirt. "We will all be there. No matter what."

**To be continued....**

* * *

Thank you guys a thousand times for the reviews!!! _ **Gato Goddess**,_ sorry no TK and Kari this time, but maybe in the next chapter. I want to end this soon, but I never know what my muses have planned.

And ** _Ben_**, I have nothing against it when you set Liam on me....I would drug him and keep him as the sexy Irishman! *chuckles* So that threat doesn't help you!

Thanks to everybody else who has been reviewing - I read them all and they really keep me writing; without the reviews this story would have probably died by now!


	10. Everybody has a light

And here it is. The last chapter. Yes, after over a year I have finally managed to finish this story....*deep sigh*. It really took me a long time, didn't it? Anyway, I'm thankful for all the people who stayed with me and coaxed me into writing with their reviews. Without you, the story would have stayed the one-shot it was actually supposed to be. 

Writing last chapters is somewhat both sad and satisfying - sad because the story has an end now, satisfying because now I don't have to worry about typing the next chapter. And of course I always want to make the last chapter special, but I don't know if I managed this. Anyway...I will probably write an epilogue to this - like 'One year later' or so, which shall show how Davis' life will be after he has dealt with all this. But it all depends on my timetable and my muse.

However, I don't want to stop you any longer, I know that you want to read the story. Now go, enjoy the last chapter and tell me what you think!

* * *

**Broken Wings**

_by Kaeera_

** Chapter Ten: Everybody has a light**

_//I was dirty_

thought I was dying

thought I was disappearing

but then they came and told me

that I was still the same

that I was still alive

that I could do it

and suddenly I realised something really important

Something I had forgotten long time ago

Never mind what happens

Never mind what they do to me

I made a promise

a promise I would never break

and never wished to

……

I promised never to give up

I promised to keep my spirit

and I never wanted to forget how to laugh

..…

It's time

It's time to keep my promise

It's time to make a new beginning//

~~~~~~~

I don't even know who I am. I have lost myself! How can I ever live again if I have lost myself???

_That's the important question. I can feel it, burning in my heart. Who am I? Who is me? And who is Daisuke Motomiya?Am I just a body without a soul, or is my soul still there? Has it disappeared, is it broken, or will I be able to repair it?_

I was scared. I was so damn scared that I felt like crying every time I saw one of the others. But then they came and told me that it wasn't true. That I hadn't lost my soul. That it was still there. 

And there's still the same old energy that runs in my veins, the same old spirit, although it may be dampened.

_I was surprised. I was shocked. I didn't want to believe them. I couldn't believe them. But then…I felt something else. It was different from everything I had felt so far, and so it was no wonder that I was surprised. I felt…_

_hope._

They were all so honest, so trustful, and I started to convince myself that maybe – maybe a little bit was true. 

In order to live again, you must hold on something.

_Yeah, I believe they were right with that. I forgot everything, even the things which were most important to me. Friendship. I have always believed that you can do anything as long as you have friends to rely on. I stopped believing that – I didn't trust my friends anymore, and therefore failed them. It's not them who weren't good friends – it was me. Although I own the crest of friendship, I forgot what it's all about. I stopped believing in one of the most important things of life, and that destroyed me. Because of that, I lost my hope._

But you don't have to cry alone

_When they said that, when I saw in their eyes that they meant it, I finally realised what I really wanted. And who I really am._

I want to be able to return to my old life. I want to live with my sister, I want to visit Veemon, and I want to go out with the guys. Hell, I want to be able to laugh again! And now I know that I am able to do it. Because I am still me, you know?

I may have changed. I may have become more serious than I used to be. But they were right, really, they were. Daisuke Motomiya is there. Because Daisuke Motomiya is not only a smile and a big mouth and a goofy attitude. Those I have lost, and I don't know if I will ever be able to retain it again.

No, Daisuke Motomiya goes far deeper. 

Daisuke, that is the boy who always stands up for his friends. That's the boy who promised himself never – ever – to give up again. That's the boy who wants to protect everybody he holds dear.

Daisuke Motomiya, that's me.

* * * * *

** One week later:**

Dr. Katashi smiled as the boy entered her office. "Hello Daisuke. It's good to see you again."

And it was true; Daisuke had improved greatly since his sudden escape a week ago. He talked more, tried to open up and was a lot of more cheerful than he used to be. Of course, cheerful wasn't the right word for it, he rarely even smiled, but alone the fact that he had smiled made a difference.

"Hello," his greeting was curt, like usual, but there was something glowing in his eyes which hadn't been there before. The brown wasn't dull anymore, but warm and full of hope. He still resembled a fragile kid, and he still was scared – Tamara Katashi had dealt with enough cases of abuse that she knew how long the road of recovery could take – but this boy had taken the first step, and that was the most important one.

Although, so she believed, he wouldn't have been able to do this without his friends. He really could himself call lucky; not many abused children could profit from so many caring friends.

"You are going home today, aren't you?" She chose her question carefully, wondering what kind of response she would get. 

Daisuke averted his eyes. "I don't have a home anymore." he whispered. "But I will go to the orphanage today. Jun will pick me up after this session."

"Are you afraid?" She folded her arms, eyeing him intently.

Davis hesitated a moment, a frown crossing his pale features. "No…not really. I used to be. I used to be afraid because I thought that I never would feel at home there, and because I didn't want to live in an orphanage. It seems to be a scary thought. But then I realised that the place a called home wasn't a real home to me for the last year – and that I lost a real home years ago. So I really don't mind. Well, not that much. Jun says that the people are okay there, and they already promised me that I will be able to return to my old school."

"Oh yes, school. Are you looking forward to that, Davis?" Dr.Katashi asked, using his nickname for the first time. He didn't protest its use, didn't even acknowledge it. 

He grinned slightly. "Well, not to the school – I never could stand the studying – but I guess I'm looking forward to having a bit of normalcy in my life. Being able to meet my friends again, being able to talk about senseless stuff like what to eat in the next break or so. I actually miss that."

"That's good." Dr.Katashi looked at him warmly. "You're a courageous boy, Daisuke. I'm really proud of you. Over the last few days, you've made a great improvement."

Daisuke blushed and looked down towards the ground, mumbling something incomprehensible. 

"What did you say?" the woman leaned closer.

He coughed. "I said that I wouldn't have managed it without the support of my friends, and my sister. They helped me a great deal, and they were able to show me some important things I had forgotten during the time with…you know."

"With your father?"

He flinched at her words, as memories came rushing back to him. "Yes," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Tamara Katashi stood up and walked around her desk, Daisuke never leaving her sight. "You know as well as I that you have just started, don't you, Davis? There's still a long way to go."

He nodded, and she continued. "I know that you can do it. You have managed the first few steps, and the next ones will be easier, because now you are able to rely on my help. You are able to deal with your present situation, but you are still shoving the thoughts of your past away."

"You will only be fully healed when you are able to speak freely with me about your father."

"That may take years, but don't be discouraged by that. You need to take it slowly, step by step. First try to remember him, recall certain events in your lessons with me, until you are able to tell your whole story."

His eyes widened. "I will never be able to do that!"

She laughed. "Oh yes, you will. Trust me."

Daisuke stared at her for a while, his own thoughts whirling. He didn't want to think of his father, because it made him feel depressed, but the doctor was probably right. No, the doctor was right. He had known that from the beginning.

The boy sighed deeply. "If you say so."

Silence fell over them, and Daisuke looked out of the window. The sun was shining – again – and for the first time in days – weeks – he was able to be happy about that fact. "Are you treating many children like me?" he asked suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, reverting his gaze to the female doctor.

She smiled at him, a warm, genuine smile. "Yes. I specialised on children who have been traumatized, meaning children who have gone through terrible things – abuse, rape, accidents, losing a loved one – or who have simply seen things which were too much for them, like murder."

"Are they…all…..like me?" He clutched his chair, not knowing where the sudden curiousity came from. 

She seemed to know, though, and he found it strange. Tamara Katashi closed her eyes and leaned back.

"Not all, no. To be quite honest, you can't compare them. Each child has its own character and personality, his or her own way to react to things. So every 'case' is new, and you never can judge how it will end. Of course, there are some similarities. Abused children are either very violent or they tend to become apathetic and withdrawn – like now. It really depends very much on the person."

"What do you do if you can't help one child?"

The doctor laughed. "Davis, this sounds like an interview – it should be me who asks the questions! But I can understand why you want to know." A grave and serious expression appeared on her kind face. 

"I always try my best, because it is my intention to make the children I treat laugh again. There's nothing worse than a child who has lost his or her laughter. But sometimes…sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes, the emotional scars are too deep, the pain inflicted too great, so that the children will never be healed. Some of them stay withdrawn for the rest of their life; and one of my kids – I don't like to call them cases – even committed suicide."

Daisuke gasped, unable to imagine that this friendly woman had failed.

"I know what you are thinking now," she looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "But Davis, you must understand that we, too, are only humans. We can only lead you on the right path, give you hints and a few nudges in the right direction, we can offer moral support and our trust. We can only lead you to the door, but it is you who must walk through. And if it's too late – if every spirit is destroyed, we won't be able to do anything. It is hard, and sometimes I wonder why I am doing this."

"I'm asking that myself."

She chuckled. "Because those are not the only child. I also have children like you, who are able to find the way back to their lives. And if I am able to be witness of such a second….birth, and even help along the way, that's reward enough."

Daisuke shook his head. "That sounds pathetic."

"It does?" Dr. Katashi smirked. "But it's the truth. Now it's your turn."

"Huh?" The boy frowned.

"Well, you asked me, now I get to ask you. That's only fair, isn't it?"

"I guess so…."

"You remember what I said before? That you must deal with everything in your past in order to heal?" She sat down on her chair again. "Well, we will begin with that immediately. Tell me about the day when your father stabbed you."

Daisuke froze. He quickly jerked his head away, as he felt tears prickling in his eyes. _Why am I crying again? There's no need, to cry, don't cry, you know that you have to do this, you can do this, so don't cry…_

"It's okay to cry," came the soft voice of the doctor, "You can cry while you tell me. Just…tell me, okay? You have as much time as you want."

Daisuke took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. His hands trembled, as he tried to express his feelings with words. It was far more difficult than he had thought it would be.

"It was….on this day…I failed a big test. I don't exactly remember what kind of test it was, I just know that I did really, really bad at it. I….hadn't been able to concentrate while writing it. I was already depressed when I walked home…no, afraid might be the better word." He laughed bitterly. "It sounds pretty weird to say that I was afraid of returning home, but I really was…..I remember how the sun was shining on this day, and I was watching some other children playing soccer, wishing that I was able to do the same – but I knew what was waiting for me. So I walked home, slower and slower…."

A small tear trickled down his cheek. "You know…I really didn't want to go home. I didn't want to go home because *he* would be there. But I just couldn't go elsewhere…it was as if an invisible force shoved me towards our apartment, towards this….man, which I used to call 'father'." 

"He….was like he always was. Screamed at me. Hit me. Insulted me. And I cried. I wanted to run away. But I couldn't. I….just couldn't. So I stayed, and cried, and sobbed, and begged him to stop…."

Daisuke wiped some of the tears away and choked. "He…he never listened to me. He was even angrier when I started crying, but I couldn't help myself….I couldn't stop it, the tears just came, like now. I was…I was….trying….to do something, but nobody was there and I was all alone….I was scared!"

"I kept asking myself: Why? Why does he do this? Why…does he hurt me like that?....doesn't he love me?"

"I don't know what he was thinking…I will never understand why he did it. Never. But suddenly, he took the knife, the kitchen knife. And he looked at me….stared at me…with his eyes…I mean…." Daisuke stopped, trying to control the sobs which were racking his body. He didn't succeed, and spent the next few minutes crying silently. Dr. Katashi handed him a tissue and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Then he was able to regain his composure. "He yelled even more with the knife in his hands….and suddenly I knew that this was far more serious than I had thought. He was acting crazy, screaming and raging….and then he ran at me with the knife in his hand."

"I guess I was too scared to do something…"

"I mean, I actually saw him coming and realised what he was going to do, but I couldn't believe that this man…that my…my fa…"

"He scared me and I was like frozen…"

"And then I felt the impact in my stomach. I fell to the ground…"

"Everything was a blur, I can't remember everything…."

"But I know that I touched my stomach and looked at my blood covered hand. It hurt. It hurt so much that I wanted to cry, but I was already sobbing and trying to get away and…and…the only coherent thought in my mind was: you are going to ruin the carpet! My father will kill me!"

"Gosh!" He tried to grin, but it ended in a pained grimace. "He stabbed me and all I could think of was the floor!"

"I was so damn scared that I forgot about myself, until I started coughing and the pain raced like fire through my body…."

"Everything became dark as my vision blurred…and I felt relieved, strangely…I mean….you'd think that I was afraid, but I wasn't…"

"The only thing I thought was, at least it's over now."

"I thought I was dying, and I was happy about it. Because then this…man wouldn't hurt me anymore."

"I would just disappear. Forever."

He hesitated, sniffing loudly. His voice was barely above a whisper, as he continued. "Then I woke up in the hospital, with Jun by my side, but I…I….was not there. No. Not really. That's when the real nightmare started."

"Alright." She nodded sympathetically. "I think that's enough for today. You've done very well, Davis – I'm proud of you."

He didn't know what to say, just stared at his hands and wiped the tears away which were still running down his face. Somehow, the doctor's last statement made him feel better, it had been a long time since such a thing had been said to him.

"I believe your sister is waiting for you." Dr. Katashi announced and led the confused boy to the door. "Take care until our next meeting." She held her head closer to his. "And don't forget, Daisuke – home is not one place. Home can be anywhere, as long as you are with the people you love." 

With those words, she shoved him out of the door, where Jun was already waiting for him, holding his bag in her hands. The girl's eyes widened as she saw the tearstained face of her younger brother.

"What have you done to him?" she asked, shock and accusation evident in her voice.

"It's okay, Jun ," Daisuke shook his head, "It's okay. We just dealt with some….traumatic events of my past" A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "It's okay."

Jun looked at the doctor, at Daisuke, and then at the doctor again, unsure what to say or think of this. She didn't like the idea of her brother crying alone, but she understood as much to know that she couldn't be there all the time and that he had to learn how to deal with this alone.

"If you say so," the girl hesitantly agreed and bowed slightly to the woman. "Thank you, Dr. Katashi."

"There's nothing to thank me for," was the warm reply.

The Motomiya siblings left the building, walking towards the bus stop. Jun constantly glanced at her brother, who seemed to be deep in his own thoughts, not caring what was going on around him. The girl strongly resisted the urge to shake him and ask what exactly the doctor had wanted to know, and what she could do to make him feel better. But she stopped herself, knowing that sometimes it was better to be left alone to think about things.

Daisuke himself felt…strange. Recalling the events had been terrible, horrible, and he wished that he would never have to experience that again. But strangely, he realised somewhat surprised, it had helped. He felt a lot of easier now – it was far from feeling good, but it was another step he had taken. 

Slowly he smiled, and this time it was a real smile.

What had she said?

Home can be anywhere, as long as you are with the people you love.

His smile broadened at this thought. Maybe she was right.

Out of the corner of his eyes he glanced at Jun, for the first time *really* realising how much his sister meant to him. Without her support, he would have committed suicide a long time ago. It was really funny, so he mused; years ago, he had always been jealous of the other digidestined who seemed to have such good relationships with their siblings. Daisuke had looked down on his sister. She didn't act like an older sibling at all – didn't go all overprotective and stuff like that – but now he had realised that he never really wanted that. 

Jun was Jun, and she would never be a sister like Matt was a brother to Takeru. She was Jun, like Davis was Davis and would never become as caring and friendly as Hikari.

Jun had her own way of showing how much she cared for her brother, and she had done so over the last months. 

"Davis?" the sudden question interrupted his thoughts. Jun, surprised at the fact that her brother was smiling so suddenly, had decided that she couldn't be silent any longer.

Daisuke turned around, looking at her for a long time without saying a word, a smile playing around his lips. 

"Thank you," he said simply. "Thank you for everything."

Jun looked baffled at first, and then a grin spread about her face. "You're welcome, little brother. All the time."

* * * * *

"Do you want something to drink?" Ken asked, while throwing his backpack in a corner of the apartment. Daisuke shuffled behind him and shook his head.

"No, thanks. I'm not thirsty."

He flopped down on the bed in Ken's room, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. This was what he had missed – the normalcy of being able to walk over to Ken's and stay the afternoon at his best friend's apartment.

The blue-haired boy sat down on a chair opposite to Davis. "So, you will go back to school, huh?"

He nodded and looked out of the window. "Yeah, next week. The doctor said it was time and that it would help me a lot. I just hope that the others don't make a fuss about it, I couldn't stand that."

"Well, they probably will, after all, you were away for over two months." Ken pointed out, eyeing his friend closely.

"Do they….do they know about it?"

"What happened to you?"

"Yes…do they know about the thing…with my father?"

Ken hesitated for a moment. "No…no, not everyone, just us, your closest friends. The rest of the school thinks that you have been stabbed by a crazy madman in some dark alley. Nobody knows about your parents, unless you want them to know."

Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good! I wouldn't survive the questions!"

His friend smiled slightly. "Are you really okay with it? Going back to school and all?"

"I don't know…" Davis admitted. "It's hard…I'd rather say no, but I know that can't do that. It would be like running away, and I have done enough of that over the last few months. I'm kinda looking forward to it. Everything was so strange, so out of place, maybe school can provide me with a sense of normalcy." He laughed quietly at this thought. "Imagine, me looking forward to going to school."

"Who would have guessed," commented Ken dryly. "but I think I understand what you mean. When something out of the ordinary happens, you just wish that everything would be normal again. And you yearn for the normalcy others seek to avoid – which is kind of ironic." He sighed deeply. 

"It was the same with my brother, you know. When our life was normal, I hated it; I wanted to be the center of attention and felt jealous of him. But when he died, everything changed. First I wanted him back, and then I ran away, in both my mind and reality. I focused on being the best, and forgot that I only wanted to have my brother back, my brother and a normal life. So yes, I guess I can understand what you are feeling. You don't want to face the truth because it's so painful, so you try to hide. But someday it will all come out, and then it may break you."

"Is it ever less painful?" Davis asked softly, leaning his head on the pillow.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Ken closed his eyes. "You never expect it to be, but the pain dissolves with the time, and someday you will be able to think about it without 

crying or feeling like hurting someone."

"What a relief," was the muttered reply, and Ken laughed.

"Some things take time, Davis. And you are already much better than you were in the beginning when you didn't talk! At least you can laugh again!"

"You're right." Daisuke smiled. "That was really an odd time. I don't remember everything, but Jun told me about it. I didn't speak a word and just stared out of the window. It's strange, because all I remember is that I had weird dreams and suddenly I was trapped in my own body, in a strange room I didn't know. Sometimes I wanted to speak, but no words would come. Then there were the times when I simply didn't care. Everything was a blur, I didn't know the difference between the days, and I didn't pay attention to your visits. It's kind of ….freaky."

"It was freaky for us as well." Ken's voice was thoughtful. "At first, it was like a bomb had been dropped on us, as we received the news of what happened. And then, when I visited you, I was so worried and scared, because…well…because you didn't talk at all. You just stared at me, and I knew that you needed help, but I couldn't give you my help because you wouldn't accept it!"

He leaned back in his chair, his blue hair falling into his face. "That was the most frustrating thing, I guess. We wanted to help you, wanted to comfort you, but you wouldn't let us. There was a wall around you we couldn't destroy, and it really discouraged me. I felt so guilty because I'm supposed to be your best friend and wasn't able to help you. And I felt hatred for the man who caused all this. Believe me, at that very moment, I would have strangled him if he had been in the same room!"

Daisuke shifted uncomfortably on his seat, and Ken realised that it was because he had mentioned his father. Although the boy was much better now, he still couldn't speak about him, and what he had done. "Sorry," Ken apologised. 

"It's okay." Davis smiled weakly. "I have to get used to it."

"Yeah, but not everything at once." Ken stood up and stretched his arms. "It was a difficult time for us all, but you have once again proven why you are the bearer of the crests of friendship and courage. I'm glad that you finally found your way back to us."

"I'm happy about that, too." The brown-haired boy whispered. "It will get better, won't it?"

Ken smiled brightly at him. "Of course it will!", he glanced out of the window. "Now, what shall we do? The sun is shining and the weather is too good to stay inside."

Daisuke followed his gaze and started grinning. "Well…we could go to the park and play soccer."

Ken frowned. "Are you allowed to play soccer? You were stabbed, don't forget that tiny detail."

"Ahh, come on, I'll be going to school next week, a little soccer playing won't hurt." Daisuke waved it off. "Besides, I need to do something. Sitting in the hospital has done nothing good for me!"

"Well…okay, as long as you don't overdo it!" His friend advised sternly.

"I won't!" The brown-haired boy jumped up, grabbing the soccer ball which was lying in a corner of the room.

Ken simply shook his head. "Sure." He knew his friend better than that. But he still smiled, feeling glad at the fact that the old glow in Daisuke's eyes had reappeared. He was unable to refuse his friend anything that would brighten the glow even further.

Both boys went to the park. It was full of people who had had the same idea of enjoying the bright afternoon sun. Many children were already out on the grass, playing various games, and the two boys soon found a few teens at their own age to play soccer with. 

It still wasn't over; it never would be. But Daisuke had learned how to laugh again, and that was the most important step. Everything else would follow. And with the help of the people he loved, he would simply live again….and enjoy it.

"Hey, Ken…bet you can't get the ball off me!"

"Are ya joking, Motomiya? That's too easy!"

"Really? Well, then try…."

Broken Wings

You can't repair them Never 

_But you can learn to live with them_

**_Finished! (Only the epilogue left!)_**

* * *

_Reviews would be greatly appreciated! And thanks for everyone who offered to beta....I really appreciated it!_

**Jesse Matsuda** - Yes, and I think the one-year birthday has passed now. Phew, quite a long time to take for a fanfic, not? Hopefully the result was worth it! I enjoyed writing it, although it was very difficult at times. Thanks for the review!

**Silent Bob** - Wow...*blushes* I'm flabbergasted! Your compliments were really nice. I'm glad that you like this fic that much...and as for flames, I think I HAVE received a flame somewhere, which said 'I hate Davis' or something like that, but I don't remember it exactly. It was such a pointless flame that I just shook my head and forgot it. I didn't delete it, so it must still linger somewhere out there...dunno. Anyway, thanks for your kind words! You don't know how hapyp I am to hear them!

**Gato Goddess** - Yes, I am expecting your review! Tell me what you think about the last chapter! Running away is a very common solution to problems, isn't it? But now Davis has stopped trying to escape, so it should be okay...although 'okay' is a very farstretched noun.

**SnowTiger** - Your mind is a blur? Oh, I can totally understand that. Mine's always liek that! *snickers* Well, I hope you can think a bit clearer this time...and thanks for the review!

**Ben Myatt** - Anything to say? Err...don't start the gamer language, too....I can never understand it. I'm glad that I can understand English, and then they change it like that...


	11. Epilogue: Sunrays

Whew! The epilogue. Finally. Took me long enough, not? Anyway, after this one, the story will be really finished. I don't know if I will start another digimon fanfiction or not, right now nothing is planned, but you can never know with my muses. They tend to be quite weird.

I really, really thank everybody who has taken the time, and I was really flattered by the response of the last chapter. It made me feel so happy, and I hope you can take this epilogue as a little thank-you present.

I also have to thank netty and Samanda for beta-reading. I really appreciate your help.

Usually I reply to reviews at the bottom of the story, but this time, I didn't want to do that, because it is the last chapter every and I want you to go away with the last sentences of the story in your mind. Um. Or something like that.

**Silent Bob** - I live in the very south of Germany, near Bavaria. I doubt that you'll know the name of my city, though.^^ And I am still living there, in this small little village, have been living here for my whole, eighteen years. My city is about two hours away from Munich, if that says you something.

**Dameus** - *blushes* Wow, thanks for the praise! Broken Wings was a hard piece to write, and I am glad that I finished it. Writing in English can be hard at times, but after a while, it gets easier. Sometimes it was so frustrating because I wouldn't find the right words, and I felt ready to smack my head against something...and now it is over. Wow. Took me over a year...

**Gato Goddess **- I put Takeru and Hikari in the epilogue, but I forgot about Tai...I am sorry, I hope you like it nonetheless. Running away seems like a common solution, but after a while I had realised that you are only running away from your problems and it won't help at all.

**MoonDaemon** (or SnowTiger^^) - You don't know how happy it made me to read your words! Such praise is just...wow. I always was unsure with this story, was unsure whether I portrayed it correctly or not, and reading your review made me smile in relief and joy. Thank you!

**ciily siyn** - My, that's an uncommon name. You belong to the people as well who manage to get down after reading fanfics? Me, too! My friend thinks that it is pointless, because they are only fictional characters, but I can't help it. 

**Charbonne** - Well, the epilogue is a little bit different and I don't know if it potrayed everything well, but I really hope you like it. Thanks for the kind words!

**Neo** - The fact that people were crying while reading this fic is really...amazing. I never thought that my fanfics would be able to do that - I mean, I have read fanfics from other, excellent authors who are much better than me, and they really made me crying, but I never, ever, imagined that I could achieve trhe same...As weird as it sounds, it makes me happy. Not that I am happy because you cry, but I am happy because that means I was able to write the emotiones as I wanted them to write. I don't make any sense here, I know, so I simply thank you for the review.

* * *

****

Broken Wings

_by Kaeera_

**Epilogue: Sunrays**

The sun was sending a few golden rays through the clouds, which were moving slowly across the sky. It was a warm day in autumn, the leaves of the trees already coloured in red, and the parks were full of playing children.

Even the students in Odaiba High School were laughing and smiling, for the bell had just rung and they were able to leave their classrooms and go home. It was Friday and the prospect of a weekend without school, a weekend spent with friends and doing fun stuff was raising everyone's spirit. 

The grey school building was filled with the noises of hundreds of students chatting animatedly, as they strolled towards the gates. 

"Yay!" One of those students, an energetic boy with reddish brown hair and tanned skin, stretched his arms contently. "Finally! Those last two lessons were torture! I mean, I was nearly falling asleep while Ukiyaga-sensei was talking about the effects of the French Revolution on the European political system!"

The blonde boy besides him laughed. "True, but it couldn't have been that bad, I mean, after all, you knew what she was talking about. Normally you can't even tell which lesson we have!"

"Very funny!" The brown-haired one stuck out his tongue. "I only knew about the topic because she wrote it on the blackboard and I copied it in my exercise book."

"Ah, really?" He laughed again. "Well, I should have figured that one out!"

They both grinned as they walked towards the exit, two exact opposites, but obviously very good friends. One was pale, with beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair, a boy the girls swooned over. 

The other had darker skin, tanned from being out in the sun every day and warm, chocolate brown eyes. Although he wasn't what one would call a beauty, he had his own appeal which caused several girls to follow him with appraising gazes – although he didn't seem to care.

They talked quite animatedly, when a girl joined them, smiling at both of them. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown, and her eyes sparkled with warmth and joy. 

"Hello you two!" she greeted them, brushing a few strands behind her ear. "Are you fighting again?"

"Us?" The blonde's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Ah, Hikari, you're insulting us – we never fight, as you well know. There are only slight disagreements, in which we use physical force to underline our arguments!"

"Sure." Was the sarcastic reply, followed by a snicker. "As if you and Daisuke are able to spend five minutes together without bickering!"

"Hey, Ken!" The third ignored those comments completely and waved at a blue-haired boy waiting outside the school grounds. He sped off, his rucksack hanging loosely over his shoulders. His spiky head moved excitedly as he talked with the genius, his hands underlining every syllable with animated gestures. Ken smiled and nodded at every word, seemingly amused by the over-enthusiastic teenager in front of him.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Hikari said softly, her eyes smiling.

"What?" asked the blonde, confused.

"Him." She pointed towards Daisuke, a faraway look on her face. "If you compare him to how he used to be after…you know what, it's really amazing that he's able to laugh like that again."

They stood in silence for a moment, the other students passing by without noticing them. 

"You're right," Takeru replied. "It may sound crazy, but I'm kinda proud of him. I mean, it shows how strong he is, and…well, I'm glad to have a friend like him."

"Yeah." Hikari nodded. "Yes, indeed, we can be proud." 

Her eyes saddened for a moment. "I guess the whole incident has shown us a bit more of the world. How brutal it can be, and how many people exist who aren't as happy as you and me. And they aren't far away, they are right next door. They live in the flat next to you…" 

They shared a moment of solemn silence, and then Takeru smiled. "That's true. But all we can do is try to help those people who are close to us. And that, I will do with my whole heart."

Hikari laughed softly. "That is true." 

They both began to walk towards the other two boys, able to overhear what Daisuke was talking about as they drew closer.

"…and guess what he did then? He snatched the book out of my hands, slammed it on the table and told me that he would confiscate it until the end of the term. Can you imagine? And I haven't even finished reading it! I so desperately wanted to see how it ends…"

"That usually happens when one reads books during class, Daisuke." Ken shook his head, but there was no scolding tone in his voice, only pure, simple amusement. 

"But I hid it under the desk!" the brown-haired boy whined and pouted. "And I really, really wanted to read it."

"So why didn't you finish it at home?" Takeru queried and stood beside his friend.

Daisuke simply stared at him. "Are you kidding? At home I have better things to do! Besides, I overslept again and Jun threw a tantrum when she had to wake me up. Gee, she's been so agitated since she's entered the university!"

"Well, it's probably too much stress and maybe she's overworked." Hikari suggested, but Daisuke waved it off. 

"Nay, she's lovesick again, I've overheard her talking on the phone with her new boyfriend." He scrunched his face in disgust. "That's one negative side effect when you live in an apartment with your sister!"

Ken smiled, a genuine smile which came from heart. "I bet you don't think it's that bad – you are just complaining because you want to complain, not?" 

The genius could only too clearly remember how it had been for Daisuke to live at an orphanage and how glad he had been when Jun had finally been old enough to live in an apartment with him. The rent was paid, half by the state and half by their father's savings, who was now sitting in jail and wouldn't see light of a day again for the next thirty years.

Daisuke hesitated, and then grinned sheepishly. "I guess you have caught me again. You're too smart for me, Ken!"

Laughter filled the air, before they dispersed and walked off in different directions while waving goodbye.

Ken accompanied Daisuke on his way home, the smile disappearing from his face as he decided to talk about the topic which had been lingering on his mind for the last few days.

"What I wanted to ask you, Davis…are you really okay?" The question hung in the air, and the carefree expression on the brown-haired boy's face was replaced with a thoughtful look. "You mean because of tomorrow?"

Ken nodded, waiting for his friend to continue. Over the past few years, he had learned to read Daisuke's emotions very well, finally recognising that there weren't always cheerful and happy thoughts going through his stubborn head.

Daisuke scratched his head. "To be quite honest, no. If I'd tell you yes, it would be lie. But…it's better."

"Do you have dreams?"

A sad smile was his answer. "Of course. What do you expect? It was two years ago, but sometimes it seems like months or even weeks only. It's strange, most of the time I don't think of it, but there are days like this…days like tomorrow, when everything comes back to me."

Then his eyes sparkled again, as he flashed his friend a grin. "But it will be okay, really, Ken. I have learned how to deal with it. I will talk to Jun, and maybe I will come over to your place and talk with you, and after that I will go over to the Children's Health Centre to talk with Tamara a bit, and then it will be okay. I won't say that it doesn't hurt – after all, tomorrow is the two-year-anniversary of the day my father stabbed me – but it doesn't hurt as much as before, and that is what counts."

"I'm glad," was the simple reply, as the two friends walked forward, each of them sharing the same thought. No, it wasn't okay, but it would be, because he wasn't alone, and because he had no learned how to deal with his past.

* * *

It was later that day that Daisuke Motomiya entered the Children's Health Centre. He was a frequent visitor in the white building. First he had been a patient himself, and then he had been asked to help out a little bit, to talk with other victims of abuse and help them using his own experiences.

Several times a week he came to this place, to play with the smaller children and talk with some older ones. He always paid a visit to his own doctor, with whom he was on first name basis, and she was the person who had convinced him to do this job.

Now he was glad he'd agreed to do it. Of course, it hurt a lot to see all the children with their haunted looks – they reminded him painfully of his own past – but the joy he felt when he was able to help was far bigger than all the sorrows he had experienced.

He never had to deal with the more serious cases though – only doctors and relatives were allowed to see them. But he could talk with those who had already made progress and with the friends he had made during his stay at the orphanage, for the orphanage lay directly beside the Children's Health Centre.

"Davis!" An eight year old, young girl raced towards the boy as he entered the building, throwing her arms around his legs.

"Whoa, hello Aylin!" Daisuke replied and lowered himself down to his knees, so that he was on eye-level with the girl. Aylin wasn't one of the 'cases', she lived in the orphanage because her parents had died in a car accident. 

The girl had quickly taken to Daisuke, after he had explained to her how to play football and had accidentally kicked the ball through a window. This had impressed her so much that she started following him everywhere – and Daisuke, always one to make new friends, had taken her with him.

"When can I sleep at your place again?" The little girl pouted, her short black hair standing out in all directions.

"Not for the next weeks, I fear." Daisuke explained. "Jun has some important tests and she needs to study. It won't help her at all when we make noise, you know. But we'll do it as soon as her tests are over, okay?"

"Alright." Aylin sighed, she knew better than to object. It was one positive point one could say about all the children in the orphanage – they weren't spoiled. Most had similar experiences to Daisuke and each of them had his or her own way of dealing with it. 

Daisuke had found out – to his surprise – that he wasn't the only one. Of course, he had *known* that there were other children who had been abused by their parents as well, but he hadn't expected to actually *meet* any of them!

It had been awkward at first – being in the same room with a person who had the same experiences as him, yet nobody dared say a word. But as the days passed, they had started to talk to him, and Daisuke had been amazed that the feelings of the others were similar to his own. 

"Hey, Aylin," he ruffled the young girl's hair and grinned as she squealed. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here right now. I have to visit Elias first. But if you wait for me at the main house, I will come and pick you up as soon as we're finished. And then we can go eat ice-cream. Does that sound okay?"

The wide grin was enough, and he stood up as Aylin nodded eagerly. "Alright, then I'm off. See ya later, alligator!"

"In a while, crocodile!" was the immediate answer, and Daisuke had to suppress a chuckle. His face became more serious as he headed towards a different part of the building.

"Ah, hello Daisuke." A head popped out of a room, and Daisuke was pleased to see his old doctor, Tamara Katashi. 

"Hello Tamara!" he waved and moved closer to the older woman.

"Coming to see Elias again?"

"Yes. I really want to help him."

The smile slipped from Tamara's features. "I know you do, Davis, but it doesn't always work. Sometimes…sometimes our help isn't enough."

"I know," his voice didn't waver and his gaze was fierce, "but that won't stop me from trying."

The smile appeared again. "That's the spirit! And what is going on with you? After all, a very special anniversary is coming up…tomorrow, am I correct?"

"Yes." Daisuke nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

"Down?" He shrugged. "I told Ken before, it would be a lie to say that I feel all right. But I'm better, and I know that – even when I feel depressed this evening or tomorrow – that I will be able to smile again, and that makes it easier, somehow. So I'll tell you the same thing I told Ken. No, I am not okay." His smile broadened. "But I will be." 

"I'm very glad to hear that." Tamara returned the smile. "You've matured a lot, Davis. You will be a fine young man one day – to be honest, you already are, but don't tell anyone I said that."

"I won't," he reassured her laughing.

"Elias is in his room. Go and talk with him. I think he needs it."

"Thanks." Daisuke smiled once more and left, heading towards the door. Elias was the latest 'case', and his story had a significant resemblance to Daisuke's own past. 

The boy had lived with his alcoholic father. The man had been an alcoholic for over four years now, after the divorce of his parents. His father had adopted the habit of blaming his son for everything bad that happened to him, underlining his words with cruel beatings. When the police had found Elias, he had been imprisoned in the cellar for over three days and was seriously dehydrated.

Daisuke had to admit that the poor boy had had it even worse than him, add to that the injuries that came from the physical trauma of being imprisoned in a dark cell for three days, and it had taken the doctors a long time to get him to talk. He hadn't become catatonic like Daisuke, instead he had resorted to violence and was resenting every talk, every word directed as him.

Daisuke knew – because he had felt it himself and because Tamara had explained it to him – that this was only a defence mechanism, that deep inside the boy felt the same as he had felt: shame, guilt, and worthlessness. 

He wanted to help, wanted it more than anything else. But so far Elias hadn't been cooperative, he had simply refused to talk and had only sneered at him.

The room was silent as he entered, and he recognised the still figure sitting in a chair, holding a newspaper in his hands. 

The boy was about thirteen years old, with lanky legs and a thin frame. His delicate face was pale, only the dark eyes a deep contrast to the rest of his body. His hair was short and black. 

As Daisuke entered, he stared up with an old, cold expression on his face. "You." It was the only word he said, his voice raspy and devoid of all emotion.

"Yes. Me." Daisuke sent him a smile, knowing all to well that his usual cheerful self wouldn't help the boy at all.

"Why are you here?"

Daisuke took his time before he answered, instead he grabbed a chair and sat down on it. "You know, the usual stuff, I got bored and I thought I'd pay you a visit. You and Tamara and some of the guys in the orphanage."

"You don't need to visit me."

"Yes. You're right. I don't need to." He leaned back comfortably in his chair. "But I wanted to."

Silence was his only answer. Daisuke leaned his head on his arms and looked at the younger boy. "I wanted to come because tomorrow is the anniversary of the day I was brought here." He then continued softly, not caring if Elias listened or not. "It feels kind of awkward, and that's why I came here."

A derisive snort was his reply. "And I bet you immediately felt great and everybody loved you and soon you were good friends with everyone and so on…"

Daisuke blinked. "What makes you think that?"

Elias sent him a dark look. "Well, look at you! You're so…nice! Everybody likes you! For people like you, a thing like depression doesn't exist!"

"Ah." The brown-haired boy nodded, the expression on his face unreadable. "Because I'm usually cheerful, I don't know depression, have never experienced it, despite the fact that I was brought to the hospital two years ago because my father stabbed me. Well, that's perfectly understandable."

Elias stared at him and frowned. Daisuke hadn't told him about his past yet, trying to get closer to the boy before he did so. "You're lying."

"I am lying?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow. "You can ask Dr. Katashi – it's true. I've had the same experience as you, I was abused by my father. I was terrorized and in the end, he stabbed me with the kitchen knife. I was taken to the hospital, and after I healed, I was brought here for further treatment."

Blink. Blink. Elias sent him an unbelieving look. 

"You don't believe me because I am sitting here and smiling at you? Because I go to school like everybody else and act like all the boys you know from your class? Those children who don't have any real worries?"

The stricken look on the other boy's face told him that he had hit the target directly. 

"Now let me tell you one thing, Elias. When I was brought here, I was far worse than you. I didn't speak. I didn't move. I didn't even acknowledge other people in the room! It worried my sis' hopelessly, and nobody knew what to do. I would simply refuse to talk – totally catatonic, you understand?"

A forlorn expression appeared on Daisuke's face. "My memory of that time is only a blur, but the others told me about it. I can only remember…darkness. Emptiness. And all those voices screaming at me about how hopeless, worthless I was. That even my own father didn't accept me. I thought nobody wanted me. I believed that I wasn't worth living anymore. I couldn't trust myself, and I lost my faith in other human beings."

Elias turned around, his eyes facing the walls as Daisuke sent him a sad look. "This is what you are feeling right now, is it not? Why did he do this to me? Why am I such a loser? How can anyone even love me? How can they even look at me? Don't they see that I am dirty, that I am a shame for everyone? And when they come to you and tell you something – anything, it doesn't matter what – your mind cries, they are lying! It can't be! You will never be lucky again! You simply shouldn't exist!"

Elias' eyes widened and Daisuke could hear a gasp – or a choked sob, he wasn't sure. For a long time, neither one of them spoke.

Then the younger boy opened his mouth, his head still facing the white wall. "How did you…" His voice trailed of, and the aggressive undertone had disappeared. But Daisuke didn't need to hear the rest.

"How I started speaking again? Or how I fought against those voices?" He shrugged and leaned back, looking out of the window. "Trust me, it wasn't easy. And often, I wanted to give up, to throw myself off a bridge or something like that so that I wouldn't have to bear the pain anymore."

"But…I had people. Friends. My sister. Tamara. They all helped me. They talked with me. They told me that they still loved me. Of course, I didn't believe them. I didn't believe anyone at first. I thought they were just feeling pity for me and that they would recognise after some time, that I was...was unworthy of them. I was afraid that they would leave me like that. But they didn't. They kept coming. Day after day. Week after week. And slowly…slowly things got better. It never stopped hurting. But the pain became less. And easier to bear." 

He closed his eyes. "And then came the day when I laughed for the first time. Or the day I looked out of the window and thought 'Oh, the flowers are pretty'. Such normal things…I was able to smile, to joke with my friends…and I was able to cry. I didn't believe it at first, but it really became better. 

And now…now I'm normal, if you can say that, and I have learned some really important things. My life isn't a happy-go-lucky dream. If you think so, there are still many rough times ahead of me. But I have learned to deal with it. I have learned to live with the images haunting my mind, and that's why I was able to start living again." 

Elias turned his head and stared him directly in the eyes. "But…you had people who cared for you. Nobody cares for me!"

"Oh? And what about your mother?"

His face darkened immediately. "She doesn't care about me – after all, she has left me with…"

Daisuke frowned. "Strange. But she's coming to visit you every day. I didn't think that a person who doesn't care at all would do that. I mean, all the effort of travelling through the city – she wouldn't do it if she didn't care, would she?"

The boy opened his mouth and closed it again, obviously at a loss for words. "But she…"

"She divorced your father, yes. But she didn't divorce you. I've talked with her, and as far as I know, it wasn't her decision to leave you with him – it was his, and she was powerless against it. You were able to visit her every weekend, weren't you?"

"…Yes."

"You could come and see your smaller siblings."

"Yes."

"But you didn't visit very often."

"…"

Daisuke didn't know what to say anymore. He knew how to talk about topics like abuse and such, but divorce was a totally different area. He had no idea how that felt, and that was the reason why he had asked Takeru about it. But the information hadn't been very helpful, for Elias seemed – in opposite to the blonde digidestined – not to have such close bonds with his younger siblings. Or he pretended not to. Whatever.

But he *had* spoken which Elias' mother, a gentle woman at the age of 39, and he didn't get the impression that she didn't care – she had nearly dissolved into tears when her son had sent her out of the room with a cold stare.

That was Elias' problem, he was pushing everyone away, either with rude remarks or cold looks which chilled through to the bone. 

"He only beat me when he was drunk, you know."

Daisuke blinked, the words slowly entering his brain, but then he sat up, listening closely. Elias had started talking, and he was looking away again. 

"And then he screamed at me. And I…I simply cried and wished it were over. Then, when I woke the next morning…I always wondered…why me? Why does he do this? And why can't Mom prevent him from doing it?"

He looked at Daisuke and smiled weakly. "That's why I stopped visiting her. I couldn't stand to look in her eyes when I knew what was happening as soon as I went home. And I couldn't tell her either…so I simply stopped going."

"And did she forget about you?"

"No…she called, often and she even came over several times, but I pushed her away."

"And those are the actions of somebody who doesn't care?"

The silence hung in the air again, covered them like a blanket. Then, a thick, tear-filled voice broke it, shattered it, as four simple words were spoken. "No, I guess not…"

Daisuke felt relief tug at his heart. Those four words meant so much…they meant that Elias hadn't retreated so far that there was no comeback. They showed that there was still a chance, and that he could follow the same path of recovery Daisuke had chosen – because he was strong. 

"Elias…" His voice was serious, and he waited until the younger boy looked him in the eyes. "I can't promise you that it won't hurt. I can't promise you that it will be easy. That is not in my power. And that's not the reason I visited you today. I…" 

Daisuke hesitated, searching for the right words. "I wanted to tell you that it is possible. That you can do it, that you can escape those voices and accept yourself again. It is possible to lead a normal life after such a…an incident. It is hard, and you will need the help of others. It is painful and you will cry a lot. But…you can do it."

He took a deep breath. "I'll be there for you. I'll be your friend, no matter what. I don't despise you. I know what you are going through. And I will help you, like your mother and your siblings will help you. The only thing you have to do is appreciate it."

Helpless, black eyes looked at him, wanting to believe, but fearing to be hurt again. However, those chocolate brown eyes were full of genuine sympathy, and no trace of hatred lingered there.

"I…I have to think about it." was the small reply, and Daisuke grinned, relieved. "Think about it as much as you want, but remember to give me an answer the next time I visit you!"

Then he stood up, his eyes twinkling with an emotion Elias couldn't quite identify. "So, I'd better go now. I promised a friend of mine I'd take her out. After that I have to go home to be with my sister…she promised to cook tonight, and I don't want to miss that – she can be an excellent cook as long as she sticks to the recipe book." Daisuke grinned. "But you shouldn't try her 'inventions' unless you want to die a painful death."

"Eh…" Elias made a small sound, but the brown-haired boy was already going out the door.

"See ya on Monday, Elias. And think about what I told you, okay?"

"…Yes."

"Great! Bye-bye!" He waved one more time, leaving a very confused boy behind. 

Elias leaned back in his chair and stared at the newspaper in his hands. For a long time, he didn't move, just sat there, thinking. He thought about the inner turmoil he was going through and about what the other boy had told him…had Daisuke really experienced the same thing as him? But he was so…friendly! And everyone liked him! He had seen how the other kids had greeted the older boy. Didn't they despise him because of…that?

It didn't seem like this was the case. Daisuke was well-known in both the orphanage and the Children's Centre, often admired by the younger patients and accepted by the older ones.

'So it is possible, after all…'

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he nearly didn't notice the door opening. His head shot up, as he saw the round, gentle face of his mother peeping through the doorway. She was visiting him, like she had yesterday…and the day before…and the day before…

'But she's coming to visit you every day. I don't think that a person who didn't care would do that.'

"Hello Elias." She smiled unsure, fully aware that during her past visits, her son had always given her the cold shoulder. 

But this time was different. Elias looked up and sent her a smile, the first smile from him she had seen in weeks. It was shaky and it disappeared as soon as it had come, but it was there, and that alone was a great accomplishment.

"Hello Mum."

* * *

It was late evening as Daisuke finally plopped down on his bed. His day had been so full of events that he hadn't even been able to think about the anniversary anymore, and for that, he was thankful. He had eaten a big chocolate ice-cream cone with Aylin and afterwards he had gone home to enjoy a luxurious dinner cooked by Jun Motomiya herself.

Now he was lying in his room, Veemon plopped down on his stomach, and staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. 

Tomorrow would be *the* day, and he didn't know what to think of it. He had been very depressed last year, but he had been able to overcome it with the help of his friends. 

This year was different, much to his surprise. He still was depressed, but it wasn't as bad as before. It was more of a feeling of melancholy than real depression, the dark, all-embracing feeling that had threatened to eat him alive.

"You okay?" came the soft question from his digimon.

Daisuke smiled. "You don't know how many people asked me that question today."

"Oh." Veemon blinked. "Shouldn't I ask?"

"No, no, it's all right. I guess the answer is both 'Yes' and 'No'. Yes, I am okay because I have learned to deal with it, no, I am not okay because those pictures in my mind will always be there."

He sighed deeply. "But it really is like Ken has said, the pain lessens with time. You learn to live with it and you can even laugh again, lead a normal life…I'm not unhappy. I like my life how it is right now. I have had good luck. And I have great friends and a wonderful sister, although she manages to hide it most of the time."

Veemon snickered at this comment. Yes, Jun had gone back to her old, refreshing self not soon after the incident, and the siblings bickered like they had done before. But it was mostly a friendly bantering, their way of showing each other affection and bringing a hint of normalcy into their lives.

"So, you will be okay." It wasn't a question, but a statement, but nonetheless Daisuke nodded.

"More or less. I'll have diner with Jun tomorrow, and then I am going over to visit Ken and meet the other guys." He smiled faintly. "It hurts less when you can hang around with your friends, y'know." 

"I know." They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Daisuke started talking again.

"You remember this boy I told you about? Elias from the Centre?"

"The one who was abused?"

"Exactly. I visited him today." Daisuke turned on his side so he could stare at the wall of his room. Veemon, surprised by the sudden movement, slid down his stomach and landed on the bed. 

"How did it go?" The digimon asked, while crawling towards the end where Daisuke's head was laying. 

"Well…ok I guess. I really can't tell. He's so different from me –more aggressive and he tends to push others away with all his might. I told him how it was with me, but I don't know if I really reached him. I guess I achieved something, but what, we have yet to see."

Veemon looked at him for a long time and then smiled dimly. "You've really made a great recovery, Davis."

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked, surprised by the sudden change of topic.

"Well…look at yourself! Two years ago you ran away when someone mentioned the word 'father' in your presence, and now you are able to talk about your past with other people without freaking out or crying. I think that's a great improvement!"

"You think?" Daisuke blinked again, and then laughed, a genuine, happy laugh. "I guess so. Thanks!"

"Always, Davis. Always."

They laid in silence for a few more minutes, until a scream thundered through the apartment, followed by a loud crash and then some equally loud curses that were not very ladylike. 

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Let me guess…Jun is washing the dishes?"

Veemon peered out of the door and nodded. "Yep."

"Figures." he smiled lazily and rolled over, the muttered curses and the sound of someone brushing broken pieces of glass together lulling him into a comfortable sleep. For some it might have been crazy, but for Daisuke it sounded like home.

_And even when it starts raining_

There's the knowledge

That one day the sun will shine again

That one day the birds will sing their endless song

And that's why we are able 

To walk through the rain with laughter on our lips

To hope for the best even when the sky is grey

Even if one bird's wings are broken

He still might be able to soar through the sky

Because he is not alone

Because there are other birds who might help him

And because the sun will shine again

******Fin.**


End file.
